By 3 News online staff
Labour's downplaying the loss of a ministerial laptop, saying we shouldn't worry because the Government doesn't have any new ideas anyway.
A person working for Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce left the laptop and some papers in a Wellington restaurant after a night out.
Labour leader Andrew Little joked to RadioLIVE its disappearance wouldn't be of much consequence.
"The likelihood that a new idea from the Government has been compromised or released is pretty remote. There wouldn't be any new ideas [on the laptop] because clearly the Government doesn't have any at the moment."
But on a serious note, Mr Little says ministerial staff shouldn't take laptops and documents with them when they're socialising as it could have been a very serious breach.
"It's not that difficult to break into laptops, encrypted or not. Any time something like this happens there is a risk that information gets into the wrong hands, and Steven Joyce is a senior Cabinet minister – he will have access to very sensitive information, and we just don't know how safe that is now."
Mr Joyce says the loss of the laptop has been reported to police and Internal Affairs, but so far it has not been found.
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