Oravida visit purpose to “increase profile”

Official documents show the purpose of Judith Collins’ visit to her husband’s company in China was to “increase the profile” of Oravida, Labour MP Grant Robertson says.

“The paper from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade even acknowledges Judith Collins’ husband David Wong-Tung is one of two directors of Oravida.

“These documents, released cynically on a Friday afternoon, confirm what Labour has been saying all along; Judith Collins went out of her way on a taxpayer-funded justice trip to promote her husband’s company.

“The Minister can no longer continue with her absurd claims she popped into Oravida’s Shanghai office for a ‘cuppa’ on her way to the airport. Or her farcical claim she had a ‘private dinner’ in Beijing with company boss Stone Shi and a Chinese border control official.

“The revelations in these documents have put Judith Collins under huge pressure because she knows they prove she has a conflict of interest for which she must resign from Cabinet.

“Her bizarre and unwarranted attack on a press gallery journalist proves she has lost all perspective. To then threaten the rest of the press gallery shows the Minister is erratic and unpredictable.

“The behaviour of Judith Collins is now a liability for John Key’s Government. There is a pattern of his ministers believing they are above the rules when it comes to helping their mates.

“It is time the Prime Minister dropped the double standards. John Key demanded Maurice Williamson’s resignation from Cabinet. He needs to do the same with Judith Collins,” Grant Robertson says.

Attached: paper from MFAT

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1405/MFAT_paper.pdf

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