Dunne: the Cup's gone, look to the future

United Future leader, Peter Dunne, says that while it's been a blow to New Zealanders to see the America's Cup go to Europe, now is not the time for despair.

"We still have a Minister for the America's Cup, and his job is not finished," said Mr Dunne.

"In Team New Zealand, we still have a very significant sporting and intellectual asset that we should protect.

"I believe it would be perfectly appropriate for the Government to guarantee the salaries and costs of Team NZ for the next six months to allow time for a serious examination of whether we should challenge for the next America's Cup.

"Otherwise, we risk seeing our talents being strip-mined by overseas syndicates while we dither around trying to make up our minds," said Mr Dunne.

© Scoop Media