Hapless Burton Must Explain Failure
Hapless Burton Must Explain Failure to Use Mobile
Hospitals in Bali
ACT Finance Spokesman Rodney Hide said today the Defence Minister must explain why New Zealand's mobile field hospital units have not been used in Bali to help terror attack victims.
"The New Zealand Government spent millions of taxpayer dollars buying these units that fit inside a 20-foot container so they are able to be transported by a Hercules C130. We have just sent a C130 to the region, but the units weren't inside.
"In fact, the mobile field hospitals have never been used. They are mothballed in storage at Linton, treated as white elephants.
"Now that we have a situation in our very own region where surely they could be put to great humanitarian use, Defence Minister Mark Burton must explain what's wrong with these units, and why his Government won't use them," Mr Hide said.