Sacked Act Party adviser Simon Ewing-Jarvie is concerned about the spread of emails regarding the decision not to give him SIS clearance.Mr Ewing-Jarvie has asked for copies of communications relating to him from Ministerial Services following concerns em
Sacked Act Party adviser Simon Ewing-Jarvie is concerned about the spread of emails regarding the decision not to give him SIS clearance.
Mr Ewing-Jarvie has asked for copies of communications relating to him from Ministerial Services following concerns emails were sent to Prime Minister John Key and Act party leader Rodney Hide's office, The Dominion Post reported.
Mr Ewing-Jarvie lost his job as adviser to Act MP and minister Heather Roy last week, after she was dumped as deputy to Mr Hide and replaced by John Boscawen by the party caucus.
Notes prepared for the fateful caucus meeting showing Mrs Roy had a deteriorating relationship with Mr Hide were subsequently leaked to the news media by Mr Ewing-Jarvie.
Reports over the weekend revealed his security clearance had recently been withheld by the Security Intelligence Service (SIS).
SIS clearance was an "enabler," allowing access to classified information, Mr Key said.
It was not known whether Mr Ewing-Jarvie had access to, or reviewed, information that he should not have, Mr Key said.
"We know that he wasn't classified but we don't know he had access to classified information."
Mr Key said he had not been involved in the SIS decision about Mr Ewing-Jarvie's clearance and such decisions were not something his office was involved in.
Mr Hide said he had not contacted the SIS or Mr Key about Mr Ewing-Jarvie but had spoken to Ministerial Services about concerns he had. He would not elaborate on those.
Mr Ewing-Jarvie said he was advised of the decision not to give him SIS clearance on August 5 -- the same day Mr Boscawen announced his intention to stand for the deputy leadership.
Processing of Mr Ewing-Jarvie's SIS clearance had been ongoing since December 2008, the process normally takes six months.
It was unclear why his took longer or why the decision was made to deny him access to classified information.
Mr Key refused to comment about allegations of Mr Ewing-Jarvie's undue influence over Mrs Roy.
"I don't think it's really appropriate for me to go into that. I met Simon Ewing-Jarvie on a couple of occasions when I had meetings with the minister (Mrs Roy) and with him but I'm not in a position to comment about whether he was good, bad or indifferent," Mr Key told media.
Mr Hide said Mrs Roy had been poorly advised by Mr Ewing-Jarvie but it was not his business to pass judgment on the relationship between the pair.
