New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, says “that the actions of the Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Mark Burton, in attempting to explain away the losses incurred by the Airways Corporation in its failed bid with American giant, Lockheed Martin to gain the contract to run Britain’s national air traffic control system (NATS), as a justifiable business risk, is nothing less than a cover up for irresponsible management and the lack of Ministerial oversight.

“To suggest that the expenditure of $2 or 3 million of taxpayers funds in seeding money was justified, in order to gain a possible $70 million profit is ludicrous, said Mr Peters.

“This was never a venture in which it could be argued that an investment of such proportion was justified. The project never had any chance of succeeding, based as it was purely on speculation and promises, with no proven record of performance anywhere in the world, and was merely a fanciful dream of a small group of privileged individuals who had an eye for the main chance. It was a flawed project from the start, he said.

“This venture was doomed to fail from the very beginning and I repeatedly criticised the wasted expenditure in pursuit of a fools gold, using taxpayers funds.

When are we going to see Ministers held accountable for their actions or in this instance their inaction’s, as has been suggested in the past?, he queried.

“The whole saga of Airways involvement in this venture, has been a most unfortunate experience for the taxpayer and for the country, concluded Mr Peters.

ENDS

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