New Zealand Opposition Demands Resignations Over Budget Breach

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand’s opposition National Party called for both Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf to resign, saying they wrongly accused it of criminally hacking budget information.

National Party leader Simon Bridges said the secret budget material was easily accessible on the internet to anyone who cared to look for it, yet Makhlouf claimed Treasury’s systems had been “deliberately and systematically hacked” and called in the police. He said Robertson reiterated that despite knowing it was a lie.

“Treasury has known since Tuesday exactly what happened and they covered it up to hide their incompetence,” Bridges told a press conference Thursday morning in Wellington. “They have sat on a lie, calling the National Party criminal hackers and calling in the police.”

The events have overshadowed the lead-up to the government’s annual budget, due for release later today. Bridges on Tuesday revealed what he said were key details of budget spending, prompting Makhlouf to claim Treasury had been hacked.

Earlier today, Treasury said police had advised it that the accessing of the information “does not appear to be unlawful.” The department said that in preparing for the budget, it had loaded information onto a clone website. While the site wasn’t publicly accessible, a “specifically-worded search” could surface a small amount of content.

Robertson said in a statement Thursday he was “disappointed that confidential budget information was able to be accessed in this way.”

“I am also very disappointed that the Treasury did not seek to find more information as to how this happened before referring the matter to the police,” he said. “I now await the inquiry of the State Services Commissioner into this matter.”

Robertson and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday they hadn’t accused National of any wrongdoing. Robertson said he had simply referred to the Treasury’s statement on the matter. Makhlouf is due to take up the role of Ireland’s central bank governor in September.

The Treasury “has acted deeply politically” and “the Secretary of the Treasury’s position is clearly untenable,” Bridges said. “He must resign. But it’s also been ministers who’ve been deeply dishonest. Grant Robertson, from the very start, has played politics in relation to this. As minister, he is responsible. He must resign. He does not have the moral authority to deliver the government’s budget today.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Brockett in Wellington at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Brockett at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net, Tracy Withers, Edward Johnson

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