Benson-Pope forced to resign

Clark: “That's going to be something he and his electorate committee need to reflect on."
 
That's hardly an endorsement so Benson-Pope gets an $80,000 pay cut, loses the crown car, and his political career is in tatters.
 
Meanwhile, the other key player in the Setchell affair may also be in trouble.
 
Hugh Logan, the head of the Environment Ministry, is being called to account by his boss at the State Services Commission for the whole messy business.
 
All week, these two men had declined requests for interviews but just 30 minutes after the Prime Minister's announcement, they opened the doors, to explain.
  
“This was my decision to make. I made it and I stand by it. I want to emphasis though that I deeply regret the distress that this has caused. I will be doing my best in the future to ensure this situation is not repeated,” Logan told a media conference today.
 
But even Logan's future is unclear, Iain Rennie, the Deputy State Services Commissioner has ordered a report into his handling of the situation.
 
Logan only told his boss Rennie this week of Benson-Pope's comments that he would be less free and frank talking around Setchell.
 
Rennie says that was undesirable as last week he had published a report, and that major point was missing.
 
Logan was quizzed about whether he was forced or influenced to sack Setchell by Benson-Pope but he stressed the decision was his, and his alone.
 
Logan: “It was unfortunate that this issue was triggered in the first instance by a call from the ministers office never the less I would have got to hear about this issue at some stage I think very soon.”
 
Logan never once defended his former minister and when it came to whether he thought Benson-Pope misled the public, he stalled.
 

“The minister was in a position where he needed to respond to the type of questions he needed to at the time.”
 
Rennie and Logan admitted there were several other staff with possible conflicts of interest inside the Environment Ministry but they have been managed. 
 
But they said this case was unusual and did not look good for the public service.
 
Both men apologised to Setchell and said this should not impact on her chances of employment elsewhere in the state sector.