OPINION: The heat is seriously on Grant Robertson to tell us what he knew about the sexual assault allegations, when he knew it, and who he shared the information with.
What happened to this self-labelled, so-called 'most open and transparent' Government? How much longer can Grant seriously hold this unsustainable position of "sorry not going there".
He can't. Silence is not golden, and silence shouldn't be rewarded.
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Grant will duck and weave but, at some stage, he'll have to be forthcoming.
It should be now. He should be upfront and transparent now so we can see just how big the hypocrisy is.
But I suspect there's a reason he's treading carefully.
The man at the centre of the scandal has influential connections within Labour.
Grant knows because Grant has to know. Grant is the gatekeeper, the keeper of standards, he likes to run the show, and he likes to know the gossip.
He has so much to do with these young staff members. But Grant knowing everything is a curse in this instance because, if Grant knew, then I have to think Jacinda knew and then Brand Ardern collapses.
The PM in charge of a cover-up? Normally Grant is a deft operator on these issues but, like his party, he suddenly felt confused, compromised, boxed in and running out of time.
They know the guy and they're acting like there's nothing to see here.
But it's 2019 and the metoo movement has suddenly come screaming through the front door at the worst possible time.
Now they're hoping a behind closed doors QC report will put this whole thing to bed. But the test of this QC report is whether the top-level lawyer looks at what Jacinda knew, and what Grant knew.
Well, it won't. That'll be another process apparently. Anyway - they haven't released the terms of reference for the QC inquiry. But I have no confidence in this set-up. Shame on them.
Duncan Garner is host of The AM Show.
