Judith Collins denies all allegations and is determined to clear her name. Photo / APN
Opinion
The job of a Minister of Justice is to protect the integrity of the system. A minister must be beyond reproach. Any sign of political interference risks infecting the whole system.
If she only knew about a smear campaign, that's serious enough. She was the Minister of Justice, for God's
sake. Her hands must be squeaky clean. Even more serious is the allegation that it was the subject of a serious fraud investigation who was paying for the campaign.
Judith Collins denies all allegations and is determined to clear her name.
To recap, Mark Hotchin, former director of Hanover Finance, was being investigated over the failure of the finance company. About 16,000 people with investments totalling more than $500 million lost most of their money through the failure of Hanover and related companies, and the sale of assets to Allied Farmers.
The SFO did not lay charges.
