Prebble tells: Rankin offended me

One of the country's top civil servants has admitted telling Christine Rankin that her dress was indecent and offensive and she should shop at chain stores.

Mark Prebble, head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, said yesterday that he made the remarks to the chief executive of Work and Income New Zealand at a meeting in January last year.

Mrs Rankin's dress sense also came under attack from another top civil servant, Dame Margaret Bazley, who said she thought Mrs Rankin's outfit at a function with foreign dignitaries was inappropriate.

Dr Prebble and Dame Margaret were giving evidence for the Crown on the eighth day of Mrs Rankin's bid for reinstatement as Winz chief executive and $818,000 in damages. Mrs Rankin's fixed-term contract ends today, and Dame Margaret takes over as temporary head of the department.

Mrs Rankin has alleged that Dr Prebble told her that her earrings were a sexual come-on, her short skirts "an absolute distraction" and that he was disturbed by a glimpse of her moving breast.

In the Employment Court in Wellington yesterday, Dr Prebble said he regarded the meeting as a private mentoring session arranged at Mrs Rankin's request to help her work with ministers.

He described first meeting her on a visit to Winz head office in April 1999 and being embarrassed by her low neckline.

"I was outraged at having someone sitting in front of me displaying as much as she was displaying and I found it offensive.

"I was sitting to her side ... and every time she moved I found that I was having to see an embarrassingly large amount of breast exposed. I didn't like it."

He said he did not raise the issue at the time because he did not know Mrs Rankin well enough.

Mrs Rankin's lawyer, Michael Quigg, told the court that Mrs Rankin was wearing the same outfit in court as she wore on that day.

Dr Prebble first said it was not the same outfit and then said he had been looking at Mrs Rankin from a different angle at the April meeting.

He denied saying her earrings were a sexual come-on in terms of Darwin theory.

"I did say that I had a recollection that [anthropologist and author] Desmond Morris did seem to think that ears and earrings had some sexual connotation."

He admitting telling her the right colour for a public servant was grey and buying "from a chain store is always the safer option."

He also admitted describing the Government as Presbyterian.

"By that, I meant that the Government did not want to see flashy displays of commercial-type managerialism."

He said Mrs Rankin had responded positively to the meeting.

She had said she would have a "good hard look at her wardrobe to see if some low-cut neck lines and short skirts might be eliminated".

But he admitted that she did complain it was sexist and unfair and she did not think she could change her total style.

He rejected suggestions from Mr Quigg that he had influenced the State Services Commission with his opinions of Mrs Rankin's dress.

Dame Margaret told the court that a foreign dignitary was allegedly distracted by the short skirt Mrs Rankin wore to a conference.

Dame Margaret also described being subject to vicious political attacks and her own need for protection from death threats, bullets in the mail, threats of gang rape and the burning of effigies during her years as welfare and transport boss.

"You just get on," she said. "It goes with the territory.

"I would say that the threats that Ms Rankin and I were subjected to were in relation to the previous Government's policies."

Dame Margaret said it was up to chief executives to forge a relationship with ministers.

If the relationship reached breaking point or they were unable to implement new policies, they should resign.

Mr Quigg said Dame Margaret was known as the "Teflon Woman" because "everything slides off you."

He asked whether Mrs Rankin - a new chief executive - might have been making a plea for help to the State Services Commissioner when she felt she was coming under heated attack from ministers.

Dame Margaret said she had normally managed "those issues" herself.

"I don't know what Mr (State Services Commissioner Michael) Wintringham could do," she said.



Mr Quigg said attacks from the Government got so bad that Mrs Rankin asked for a meeting with the Solicitor-General.

Dame Margaret appeared surprised.

"I have never thought that was an option," she said.

"I have always thought that if it gets to breaking point I would need to resign."

She also denied Mrs Rankin's claim that she said she was so unimpressed by the Government's plans to merge Work and Income with the Ministry of Social Policy that she said she would retire immediately.

Dame Margaret said she, too, had been targeted by the Labour Party when it was in opposition.

Working with a new government was very very difficult, she said.

The case has been adjourned for two days and resumes on Monday. The Minister for Disability Issues, Ruth Dyson, is scheduled to appear before both sides sum up.