30 October 2008

Thank You For The Endorsement Messrs McCully And Groser

Rt Hon Winston Peters says the foreign affairs and trade policies released by the National Party are a ringing endorsement of everything the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was doing under his leadership.

“That National Party has not released policies, so much as bullet points from the Ministry’s website,” said Mr Peters.

“Each of those bullet points is something that the Ministry was working on under my watch. Key relationships, including with Australia, the United States, in Asia and in the Pacific have all been strengthened. The aid budget has increased dramatically. And the Ministry works closely with its sister organisations like NZTE and Tourism when abroad.

“The National Party wants to continue these policies, but has failed to answer how it will pay for them, having scorned the much needed funding for the Ministry’s Step Change programme.

“I failed to spot a single fresh idea from the National Party.

“While it is important that New Zealand has multi-party agreement on foreign and trade policies, the National Party shouldn’t mistake that as an excuse to be intellectually lazy.

“I appreciate Messrs McCully and Groser endorsing my tenure as Foreign Minister, but it is a bit rich to promote my strategic direction on the one hand and promise to cut the Ministry’s funding on the other,” said Mr Peters.

ENDS

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