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The Government has escalated a stoush with National leader Simon Bridges over the legal advice behind the coronavirus lockdown, promising to refer him to a high-powered parliamentary committee.
Attorney-General David Parker on Friday responded to an attempt by Bridges, as chair of the Epidemic Response Select Committee, to summons high-ranking government officials and force them to hand over the Government’s Crown Law advice on lockdown.
Parker promised to refer Bridges’ efforts to parliament’s privileges committee over the “constitutional outrage”, saying the epidemic response committee had no power to force the Government to waive its legal privilege over advice.
Bridges in return says Parker has thrown up a “smokescreen” to dodge public accountability in a way that shows the Government knows the lockdown was unlawful.
Tom Lee / Stuff
Attorney-General David Parker says National Leader Simon Bridges, as chair of the Epidemic Response Select Committee, has made an “unprincipled” move in trying to summons high-ranking Government officials to hand over Crown Law advice.
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Parker declined to be interviewed on Friday. In a lengthy speech over a Facebook livestream, he again asserted the lockdown was legal and listed the various emergency powers the Government has given itself, including a national state of emergency.
He said the Crown Law advice confirmed the legality but, due to the lawfulness of the lockdown being challenged in court, he has declined to go into greater detail.
The court challenge of the lockdown claims that Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield was unable to order the whole country to quarantine under law.
Parker said the Health Act allowed Bloomfield to do this, and it was “no stretch of language” to order the quarantine of the whole country.
He said it was important that Government and Cabinet ministers were able to receive confidential legal advice from Crown Law, the government’s law firm, as without this protection lawyer’s might “trim” their advice for fear of how it would be perceived outside of government.
He said Bridges was “offered a confidential briefing on the legal advice and declined”.
The Epidemic Response Select Committee, led by Bridges, issuing a summons to the Solicitor-General, the Government’s top lawyer, along with Bloomfield and the police commissioner was a “constitutional outrage”.
Getty-Images
National leader Simon Bridges says David Parker is throwing up “smokescreens”.
Parker said the Government had shown a “willingness” for public accountability by agreeing to the have the Epidemic Response Select Committee, and its majority of National Party MPs, scrutinize the response to the pandemic.
“In my opinion the current effort to turn over centuries of legal principle is not just unprincipled, but it may in fact be beyond the powers of the select committee.
“I will be asking the Speaker of the House to refer the matter to the Privileges Committee to consider.”
Bridges said Parker’s move showed “a complete lack of respect for Parliament” and the committee.
“David Parker has had a Facebook Live to avoid media questions and to throw up a smokescreen for his failure to do what’s right and release Crown Law advice.
“The legality of the lockdown, and secondly, what minister’s knew and whether they continued to act irrespective of that legality, are matters of the highest public interest.”
He said he met with the Solicitor-General who offered to brief him confidentially on the legal advice, “but it quickly became apparent that it would be secret and I would be gagged.”
“The entire reason for seeking this advice is making it public … There’s one way to resolve this, release the legal advice.”
The Privileges Committee is a parliamentary select committee that investigates allegations that Parliament’s rules have been breached, or that an MP has acted in contempt of the House. It is usually chaired by the Attorney-General.
