'NZ First won't prop up National' – Yeah Right!

The statements coming out of the NZ First Party at its pre-Election Year conference today are ominously similar to the hot air heard from the party nearly ten years ago, says Progressive leader Jim Anderton.

"In 1995, and throughout 1996 until people actually voted, NZ First publicly portrayed itself as a party that would never 'prop up' a National-led government."

"Before the 1996 election, Winston Peters was quoted as saying that: 'we're not going to be propping them (National) up'.

"The tragic lesson from the first MMP election in 1996, of course, was that after people had voted, NZ First did the opposite of what people expected of it and delivered us three horrible years of an unpopular and backward-looking National-led government.

"What that meant in practical terms was that from 1996 to 1999 Kiwis suffered higher unemployment than we needed to, three more years of regional economic neglect that we couldn't afford and further unpopular State asset sales, including a critical part of the energy system, Contact Energy.

"All this happened because the NZ First Party wouldn't tell voters honestly before the election what it would do after the election," Jim Anderton said.

"What happened a decade ago was tragic for New Zealand.

"Kiwis shouldn't and I'm certain won't fall for the same NZ First election scam again. Too many people remember, or have heard about, the arrogance of NZ First holding the country to ransom for three months after the 1996 election before finally admitting they were ready to prop-up an unpopular National-led government," Jim Anderton said.

© Scoop Media