Brownlee resigns ... nah, sucked in badly
PM refuses to accept the big fella's resignation over "gate-gate".
Brownlee resigns – nah, sucked in badly…
Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee has offered to resign, although no one is taking it seriously.
The third ranked cabinet minister apparently walked in through the out door at an airport during a Christchurch commute – breaching airport safety regulations.
Twitter wags quickly dubbed the incident "gate-gate".
Mr Brownlee says he was running late for an aircraft at Christchurch and “without thought” broke the rules.
“My actions were thoughtless and I unreservedly apologise to those people who felt and were compromised by my actions.”
Prime Minister John Key says that “on balance” he has decided not to accept the resignation.
Mr Brownlee — who also serves as Leader of the House of Representatives, which means he is in charge of the government’s Parliamentary business — was unusually absent at the start of question time today.
Standing in for him, Attorney General Chris Finlayson was bombarded with questions regarding Mr Brownlee’s whereabouts, and whether, when he returned, he would enter by the right door or not.
Gerry and the pace making
Labour has also seized on the incident, with Clayton Cosgrove saying he has doubt's about the Transport Minister's airport story — namely that Mr Brownlee was "running"
Rob Hosking
Thu, 24 Jul 2014
Thu, 24 Jul 2014
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Brownlee resigns ... nah, sucked in badly
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