Grant
ROBERTSON
Leader of the House

16 October 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT

John Key must cut John Banks and ACT loose

John Key can no longer stand by his disgraced government support partner John Banks after a court has decided he should stand trial over electoral fraud claims, Labour Leader of the House Grant Robertson says.

“John Banks has lied to the Prime Minister, Parliament and all of New Zealand over his electoral return which included donations from both SkyCity and Kim Dotcom that were wrongly submitted as anonymous.

“It is time for John Key to cut Mr Banks loose. His government cannot be propped up by a man accused of defrauding democracy. He must remove the ministerial portfolios from Mr Banks and end the government support agreement with the ACT party.

“Mr Banks used every excuse under the sun to try to weasel out of this. But New Zealanders don’t believe him. He claimed he hadn’t read the donation return form, despite signing it and Kim Dotcom has said Mr Banks specifically asked for the internet tycoon’s donation to be split into small amounts so it could be listed as anonymous.

“John Banks rorted the system by falsifying his mayoral campaign return. He has broken the law. New Zealanders want rid of him. It is time for him to go,” Grant Robertson said.

ENDS

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