Nick Smith should resign as National's Conservation spokesperson, following the collapse of a bridge at Maungapohatu, Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton says.

"There should be accountability when the National Party runs a smear campaign and turns out to be disastrously wrong.

"Nick Smith attacked the Minister of Conservation Sandra Lee for wanting to secure the safety of the road and the bridges in particular. Sandra Lee pointed out that the bridges were not safe.

"Now, on the day that the Government introduced Cave Creek legislation, we have learned that one of the bridges has collapsed.

"If the situation had been the other way around, with Nick Smith demanding repairs to the bridges and Sandra Lee declining, he would now be calling for her head.

"This is not the first time Nick Smith has fallen flat on his face. He has previously invented a story about carpets at a Government SOE.

"The National Party has a very ugly record of taking a cavalier approach to the safety of structures on Conservation land and refusing to be accountable.

"If Nick Smith wants any credibility at all, he should resign, or his leader should fire him from the portfolio," Jim Anderton said.

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