Murray McCully MP National Party Foreign Affairs Spokesman

9 October 2007

Foreign Minister blustering over facts in Air NZ case

Foreign Minister Winston Peters should stop blustering and start providing some straightforward answers about the role played by his office in the Air NZ charter fiasco, says National’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Murray McCully.

“Mr Peters statement issued this afternoon is inaccurate, intentionally misleading, and fails to explain how important security warnings can be delivered to his office but remain unread.

“First, Mr Peters statement that ‘Michael Cullen, as acting Prime Minister, revealed that information in the House' is simply not correct. In fact Dr Cullen made no reference to CTAG, merely a loose reference to "senior officials" from ‘various departments.’ Media reports at the time identified recipients of the report as including Mr Peters' ministry, Mfat.

“There was no acknowledgement either by Dr Cullen, or Mr Peters, that any Minister’s office had received the report.

“In Parliament Mr Peters acknowledged that a group of officials received communications 'one of whom was the defence liaison in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who could be construed as being responsible for reporting to my office.'

“That statement was totally misleading. We now know that the CTAG report was received by his office and duly receipted. From the content of the email released today it appears that his two Mfat secondees both received it.

“If, as both Mr Peters and Mfat contend, the report was never read by anyone in Mr Peters office, that raises separate and equally serious concerns.

“The Prime Minister is on record as stating that CTAG 'ensures that all available streams of intelligence and information are incorporated into assessing terrorist threats, crimes in countries being visited by New Zealanders and other potential threats to New Zealand and its interests.'

“Presumably this important committee sent a report to the Minister of Foreign Affairs because they considered that there was important security information that he should see.

“The importance of that material is underlined by the fact that the Prime Minister's office has withheld the CTAG report under the Official information Act - on the grounds of national security. There is little point in forwarding the material, or indeed in having CTAG, if neither senior Ministers, nor their advisors, are going to read it.

“It is time for Mr Peters to stop blustering and start delivering some simple answers.”

ENDS

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