United Future rebuts Prebble’s allegations

United Future New Zealand leader, Peter Dunne, today denounced claims from ACT Party leader, Richard Prebble, that United Future is supporting the Labour-led government in its desire to pass the OSH Amendment Bill.

“Mr Prebble knows this claim is stupid because his own newsletter acknowledges that I voted against the Bill before the election. Yet somehow, he manages to twist and distort the truth into a claim that my party now supports the Bill,” said Mr Dunne.

“This is bizarre since it is extremely unlikely that our caucus will support the Bill. Like Mr Prebble, we think it is on the lunatic fringe of lawmaking with its extreme anti-employer bias and its ludicrous plans to hand power in the workplace to the unions, without any corresponding responsibility.

“It is both ignorant and dishonest of Mr Prebble to turn a sensible examination of a very bad Bill into a cheap political attack on United Future, when all responsible politicians should be banding together to hold back the Government from making a very serious mistake.

“That’s how MMP works, but neither the National Party, which is united only by its desire to attack United Future, nor the ACT leader have yet to learn this.

“Mr Prebble further reveals his political ignorance by demanding that United Future hold the Government to ransom through withholding support on confidence and supply until the Bill is withdrawn. Any intelligent observer of New Zealand politics, from which group Mr Prebble is now clearly excluded, would know by now that the New Zealand voter does not want small tails wagging big dogs.

“The voters at the last election rejected Mr Prebble and his National Party lackies in favour of a Labour-led minority Government, moderated by the presence of United Future. I ask Mr Prebble to note the phrase ‘moderated by’ not ‘dictated to’; it is vital to understanding today’s New Zealand politics,” said Mr Dunne.

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