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Key Wrongly Slams the Door Shut on Dairy Exports to Russia

Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
22 JULY 2015

Key Wrongly Slams the Door Shut on Dairy Exports to Russia

The Rt Hon Winston Peters says it is rank hypocrisy that the National Government is wrongly ordering New Zealand’s dairy industry to not export to the Russian Federation, even though New Zealand does not have sanctions against Russia.

“It is rich of Mr Key to trumpet ‘free trade deals offer real benefits with jobs and economic growth in New Zealand,’ when he is blocking an opportunity for our struggling New Zealand dairy exporters,” says Mr Peters.

“The United States Department of Agriculture ranks Russia as the second largest dairy importing nation in the world, trailing only China.

“Russia’s largest dairy commodity import is cheese and 90 per cent of that was sourced largely from countries that have now been banned. Some 63 per cent of Russia’s butter came from countries it now bans and New Zealand used to figure prominently in the balance.

“As dairy farmers lose their farms they can thank Mr Key and National for showing solidarity with other countries that have applied sanctions on Russia. Mr Key even goes further and says he’d slap sanctions on Russia if he could.

“What is happening here is National stupidly gifting a goldmine to our competitors so he can glad-hand the international cocktail circuit instead of our hard working farmers and their families,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS


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