With much power comes much responsibility. And the government has a phenomenal amount of power right now, in the midst of a pandemic that has seen public money propping up the national economy, parliament on furlough and public officials granted special powers. Which is why any talk of gagging leaves such a bad taste.

At this time we are looking for exceptional behaviour that match the demands of the time, and for the past seven weeks the country has rallied behind the need to protect our most vulnerable, suppressed its collective stubbornness and by and large behaved pretty darn well. At the core of that has been clear, focused messages from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

No, it’s been neither perfect nor without politics. While the wage subsidy was brought together speedily, for example, our distribution of personal protective equipment and contact tracing programme has been less impressive. At times the deflection used by Ardern and Bloomfield of questions about PPE has been nothing more than stalling, while nurses have pleaded for better.

Yet much of the decision-making and communication has been to a high standard that - at this stage at least - suggests we are handling the Covid-19 crisis as well as, if not better than, most countries.

All of which is why the gagging order delivered by the 9th floor to ministers on Friday stands out like a sore, distasteful thumb.

Sent to Beehive staff from the Prime Ministers Office, it told ministers not to give interviews about the thousands of pages of official papers, minutes and advice proactively released Friday afternoon. The documents dealt with the government’s response to the virus and the email basically told the government team they’ve been managing so well and have so much pubic support, they didn’t need to answer questions about what was in the papers.

"There's no real need to defend. Because the public have confidence in what has been achieved and what the Govt is doing," the email said. "Instead we can dismiss”.

Now it’s run of the mill to suggest certain lines for ministers to run, as the email did. But to simply shut down all the cabinet ministers who are meant to be part of the team running the country during a crisis suggests people around the prime minister who are getting a little too comfortable with the extraordinary - but temporary - power currently invested in them.

It’s dumb on a range of levels.

Morally - or perhaps constitutionally - the New Zealand public has allowed this government at this time extraordinary powers and deserves at the very least in return full and frank information from cabinet. They deserve respect for the sacrifices made, not dismissal. To tell political staff to “dismiss” the questions of journalists working to keep that public informed is deeply cynical and defensive. It’s bad enough in the normal sweep of events; in these troubled times it’s shameful.

New Zealanders haven’t stayed home and saved lives, loss their livelihoods, skipped funerals and put their lives on hold to have questions about how and why decisions are being made dismissed by those paid to serve them.

Second, it undermines the brand. This government took power intending to be more transparent than the previous one, which had been poor, to say the least. It is failing. Its commitment to do the business of government more openly has been compromised time and again over the past two years. For one, consider that the proactive releases they introduced to signal their transparency were in this instance released on a Friday afternoon. I mean, either do it or don’t, but if you do it, commit to doing it well. Don’t his your transparency on a Friday afternoon. And don’t write emails that give those concerned with such issues a marker to hang their concerns on. ‘Remember when this lot told ministers to ‘dismiss’ requests for an interview?’ That’s a stain that sticks around.

That’s true in part because of point three; it damages relationships. Political journalists expect spin and excuses, but you can see in some of the stories and columns this weekend that is has lost the 9th floor some respect with the people they have to work with every day. In election year, that’s some pretty bad PRing right there.

Yes, yes, most people right now don’t care about whether some nameless staffers are telling some minister they seldom see and have hardly heard of not to speak to a press corp who are hardly regarded as angels either. They just want to know when they had hug gran, when the kids will go back to school and if they’ll still have a job in a month’s time.

But this is an election year, and politically the main job of the team in the Prime Minister’s office is to make the PM look like a winner. To look prime ministerial, so that she can stay one. For John Key that was being a likeable business guy who both knew the numbers and the clever stuff we didn’t, but also had a bit of heart and humour.

For Jacinda Ardern, its about being kind and open and different from all those other politicians who, well, aren’t. Through several crises now she has dissolved Labour’s reputation in Opposition for a lack of competence. But key to her political success is this sense that she is not just a power-monger, but a caring and sensible person who gets voters and can be trusted to act in our best interest, even with extraordinary powers.

So for emails to be coming out from her closest advisors implying her office doesn’t trust voters with full and frank disclosure and that those voters’ confidence in her is being taken for granted - banked and exploited - is damaging. Any way you slice it.

To be seen to be taking voters for granted maybe five months from an election is the last thing Ardern and her party will want. It suggests that while this government is comfortable with the power part of the situation, it has lost sight of the responsibility part. It needs to get back on track with that and quickly.