Grant
ROBERTSON
Deputy Leader

21 February 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT

Key’s Porkies On Pokies Exposed

John Key needs to tell New Zealanders the truth about his dodgy dealings with Sky City, says Labour’s Deputy Leader, Grant Robertson.

“The Prime Minister’s story is shifting like quick-sand. Yesterday he told Parliament that Sky City approached TVNZ about purchasing land for the convention centre and he talked about a commercial agreement with the casino.

“Today, he’s had to admit he was wrong. He misled Parliament and New Zealanders.

“John Key is all over the place. He can’t give a straight answer to a simple question and stick to it.

“The fact is that John Key tipped the playing field in favour of Sky City. He personally intervened to ensure it had the inside running to build the convention centre. On August 24 2009 in a handwritten note he instructed officials to “close off the Sky City angle” and stopped the bidding process in the meantime.

“John Key drove this process – a process that the Deputy Auditor General says was not even-handed and was not transparent.

“And despite what he says, he was warned about his approach.

“Yesterday John Key said the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet did not receive advice from the Ministry of Economic Development recommending that the Government seek advice from the Auditor General about the “probity” of the process. 24 hours later, Steven Joyce told Parliament that it did.

“Every day this deal gets murkier and murkier. The Government’s story is completely unravelling.

“That’s what you get when you don’t run an open and transparent process, and instead do shonky deals on the side. New Zealanders expect and deserve far better from their government,” says Grant Robertson.

labour.org.nz

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>