David Shearer
Labour Leader

20 February 2013

‘Nothing to see here’ – yeah right!

John Key’s desperate ‘nothing to see here’ defence won’t fool New Zealanders who know a dodgy deal when they see one, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

“No matter how many times John Key repeats ‘there’s nothing to see here’ he can’t deny that he gave Sky City the inside running on a deal that sells our legislation in return for more pokies.

“The Prime Minister repeatedly dodged straight questions in Parliament today about whether his Chief of Staff offered Sky City ‘regulatory relief’ in return for building the convention centre and whether that offer was extended to other bidders.

“He didn’t want to answer because it shows that he was sharing information with Sky City that other bidders were not privy to. It took the Speaker David Carter to answer for him, saying that the Prime Minister himself had offered the casino that relief.

“John Key has been spinning for days that the deputy Auditor-General’s report clears him. But John Key hasn’t been vindicated. He’s been implicated. He’s up to his eyeballs in this cosy stich-up and is funding a convention centre on the backs of problem gamblers.

“This deal wasn’t ‘even-handed, it wasn’t ‘transparent’ and it treated bidders ‘very differently’. Kiwis don’t support it. The Government should go back to square one and conduct an open and honest process,” said David Shearer.

ENDS

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Mighty River: 'Mum And Dad’ Investors Myth Busted

Green Party research, confirmed by Treasury, shows that half of the shares in Mighty River Power that National sold to retail investors went to just 13,000 people and that 10 percent of the retail shares went to just 400 wealthy people and organisations, Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said today.

The sale of Mighty River Power saw 113,000 retail investors, referred to as ‘mum and dad’ investors by the National Government, buy 26.9 percent of the company. Analysis by the Greens and Treasury shows that half of those shares were, in fact, purchased by fewer than 13,000 people who bought an average of nearly $35,000 worth of shares...

“The truth is that 98 percent of New Zealanders bought no shares at all. Half the retail shares went to just 0.3 percent of the population, and a tiny group of just 400 wealthy individuals and organisations got 10 percent of the retail shares. More>>