Clark ready to sack Dalziel

5.10pm - UPDATE

Prime Minister Helen Clark is poised to sack Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel.

Ms Clark and her staff spent this afternoon investigating an interview the troubled minister gave NZPA earlier this week.

NZPA is aware that the decision to dump Ms Dalziel rested on the use of one word -- no.

The prime minister's interest has been concentrated on an interview in which Ms Dalziel was asked if she was knew how TV3 obtained the letter which a lawyer gave to the Sri Lankan girl who was deported last Thursday.

In the interview with NZPA's Mary Longmore the minister said: "No. They didn't discuss that with me."

That response has led to Ms Dalziel's downfall.

Her ministerial career has been on a knife-edge all week since it was established that she lied about the letter.

Ms Clark this afternoon phoned NZPA editor John Crowley to ask whether he could confirm that in the interview Ms Dalziel had used the word "no" in response to the question.

In discussions with Crowley, the prime minister said she accepted the veracity of the NZPA report, and his assurance that the story the agency had published was accurate.

The prime minister then called a press conference at 5pm to announce the removal of Ms Dalziel as minister of immigration.

Ms Dalziel's own staff were not aware of the press conference when contacted by NZPA, and Ms Dalziel was not immediately available.

NZPA understands Ms Dalziel disputed with the prime minister the use of the word "no" in the interview she had with NZPA.

In the interview with NZPA's Longmore, Ms Dalziel was asked:

Question: "Had you seen those notes, that letter, before today? TV3 had it, didn't they?".

Answer: "Yeah. No, I hadn't seen it before today."

Question: "Do you know how they got it?"

Answer: "No. They didn't discuss it with me."

That exchange is in contrast with what Mz Dalziel has since revealed this week.

She has admitted that with her knowledge one of her staff delivered the lawyer's letter to TV3, with her authority.

She has also admitted that she herself provided the letter to the Dominion Post newspaper.

Amid calls for her resignation this week the prime minister has conceded that Ms Dalziel did not handle the situation well, although yesterday she was still standing by her minister.

Today the prime minister's patience and willingness to protect her minister was exhausted.

Ms Dalziel triggered her own downfall when she became enraged by the way lawyers were handling the case of the Sri Lankan girl.

She used the letter, which carried handwritten notes by lawyer Carole Curtis, to claim there had been an attempt to manipulate media coverage.

Opposition MPs said she should never have released it because it was privileged, questioned how she had obtained it, and demanded her resignation.

Ms Dalziel said it had been faxed to Ms Clark's electorate office in Auckland, which had sent it to her in Parliament.

She said it was one of several documents the lawyer had faxed to the electorate office.

Ms Curtis swore an affidavit saying she did not fax the letter, and could not have done so because she did not have it.

She said she drew a guinea pig on it for the Sri Lankan girl, and gave it to her.

Ms Dalziel yesterday offered to resign if the prime minister had lost confidence in her.

She had previously apologised for misleading the public, but maintained she had been "technically correct" when she had answered question about the letter.

A spokesman for Ms Clark said Ms Dalziel was considered a hardworking and conscientious minister.

"While she might have tested the PM's patience, she is staying where she is," the spokesman said.


Changing story

Lianne Dalziel has made contradictory comments on the letter given to TV3, and how it became public.

* Monday night, to NZPA, when asked if she knew how TV3 got the letter: "No, they didn't discuss that with me."

* Wednesday morning: National Radio's Morning Report: "So you hadn't put it in the public arena even though you had a copy of it?" Dalziel: "No."

* Wednesday afternoon, in Parliament: "I did not personally give the document to TV3 but I can confirm that a staff member of mine did."

* Thursday morning, on Morning Report: "I did arrange for my press secretary to give it to TV3. I myself gave a copy of it to the Dominion Post later in the evening after the TV3 programme had screened."


- NZPA

Refugee Status Appeals Authority letter of June 27, 2003 to Carole Curtis (the 'guinea pig letter') [PDF]
(This is the letter which Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel has been accused of leaking)