UPDATED 4.06PM: The Prime Minister is accused of hypocrisy, in putting new SIS powers before Parliament the same day his staff are implicated in an SIS blunder.

An inquiry has confirmed John Key's former chief of staff tipped off Cameron Slater to information that would embarrass former Labour leader Phil Goff.

Mr Goff says the report is an indictment on the government, a matter of hours before its foreign fighters law gets debated.

"A huge element of hypocrisy in the Prime Minister now asking the Labour Party to adopt a bipartisan position when he tolerated the direct use of confidential material for improper and unethical reasons."

In addition to the SIS report, Corrections has released its findings into Phillip Smith's escape and Judith Collins has been cleared of involvement in a smear campaign against the former head of the Serious Fraud Office.

Key stands by office staff

The Prime Minister isn't condemning the actions of a former staff member who deleted emails relevant to a formal investigation.

The inquiry into how the SIS passed on information to blogger Cameron Slater says Jason Ede deleted emails, in non-official email accounts, that were pertinent to the inquiry.

John Key disputes assertions Mr Ede destroyed evidence.

"I don't think that's right because you're making a claim about someone that's quite entitled to delete things on their personal emails and their personal phones.

"Anything on those devices are subject to the official information act."

John Key is standing by the actions of his office staff.

"The report says it's totally fine.

"I mean Cameron Slater didn't ask for any different information to any other journalist.

"The report is quite clear that there is no collusion and no direction by my office."

PM clashes with new Labour leader

The Prime Minister and the new Labour leader clashed swords for the first time in Parliament's debating chamber this afternoon.

Andrew Little accused the Government of sleaze in the wake of the critical report from the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security.

"When will the Prime Minister commit to all New Zealanders to lift his government out of the sleaze and the sludge and stop the abuse of state power for political ends."

Labour's Andrew Little says it looks like the government's controlling the timing of all the reports, to try and bury bad news.

Greens co-leader Russell Norman has tried to shout down John Key on his way into the debating chamber, saying it's time for Mr Key to resign over the SIS inquiry.

SIS 'failed', investigation finds

A former SIS boss has been slammed over his role in a campaign to embarrass Labour's Phil Goff.

A damning report from the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security has taken the SIS to task for the way it handled a release of information which embarrassed Phil Goff in 2011.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

Warren Tucker has been found to have given the prime minister's office misleading information, about a briefing to the former Labour leader - before one of John Key's staffed tipped off a blogger.

An emotional Mr Goff has taken aim at Mr Tucker.

"This is a huge indictment on the professionalism of Warren Tucker.

"This was a man whom I'd worked with for 12 years.

"I never questioned his integrity at the time but on the basis of this report I do now."

John Key says Warren Tucker "fell short of expectations" in that instance.

Tucker apologises for 'systemic errors'

Former SIS boss Warren Tucker has apologised for systemic errors at the security agency under his watch.

Phil Goff claimed that he was not briefed on security issues by SIS director Warren Tucker when an Israeli was killed in the Christchurch earthquake and allegations abounded about other Israelis traveling with him. 

Nicky Hager alleged in his book 'Dirty Politics' that Goff's allegations were used as a political football to embarrass the then Labour leader and says there was collusion between the Prime Minister's office and the SIS to give attack blogger Cameron Slater privileged information. 

Inspector General Cheryl Gwyn's inquiry into the release implicated the Prime Minister's office, but not John Key and said blogger Cameron Slater was given preferential treatment over other media outlets.

But it's the SIS that Ms Gwyn reserved most criticism for.

"I have found significant failures by the SIS to meet its obligations, both in the release of information and in upholding political neutrality," she told media.

Dr Tucker says he regrets his decisions, but felt caught between obligations to security and freedom of information.

Green co-leader Metiria Turei, whose complaint sparked the inquiry, says the Prime Minister should launch a larger investigation.

"He should initiate a full Royal Commission of Inquiry into all of the allegations in the Dirty Politics book," she says.

"It's clear that many of those allegations, if not all, are premised in fact." 

Goff receives SIS apology 

The SIS Director of Security, Rebecca Kitteridge says she has personally met Phil Goff to apologise over the release of information to Cameron Slater.

Ms Kitteridge says she takes her obligation for consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, and the responsibility for political neutrality, extremely seriously.

She says she has also apologised to the Prime Minister for providing his office with inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information.

But no apologies are coming from Cameron Slater.

Cameron Slater says Phil Goff doesn't deserve the apology and politicians need to harden up.

"There isn't a journalist in this country that doesn't use sources that get leaked information and it's ironic that you've got Phil Goff over there crying over his tears when he's one of the biggest leakers in parliament."

He's posted on Whale Oil this morning that none of this would have happened if Phil Goff told the truth when asked if he was briefed.

Slater says he was completely entitled as a citizen and voter to make an OIA request about what Mr Goff had been told by the SIS.

He says it's outrageous that Phil Goff tried to stop the OIA release, interfere in a legitimate OIA request, and all because he might get embarrassed.

He says it's he who should be apologising.

Slater admits to 'over-egging' 

Cameron Slater has admitted embellishing his comments over former Serious Fraud Office boss Adam Feeley.

It was an email of the blogger, indicating former Justice Minister Judith Collins wanted Mr Feeley out of his job, that sparked a formal inquiry into her actions.

Interview transcripts published in the report show Mr Slater told the inquiry Ms Collins never said she was going to "get", or was "gunning for", Mr Feeley.

Mr Slater told the inquiry those were his words and he was over-egging a casual conversation.