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10,000 call for Investigation into Saudi deal
10,000 call for Investigation into Saudi deal - ActionStation
Almost 10,000 ActionStation
members are calling for a full investigation by the
Auditor-General into the $11.5 million dollars of taxpayer
money spent by Foreign Minister Murray McCully.
The
National Director of ActionStation will deliver the petition
to the Auditor General on Monday the 22nd of June at 12.30pm
as part of an action with 4 people dressed up as
sheep.
What: Marianne Elliott will be
delivering the petition on behalf of 10,000 people as part
of an action with 4 people dressed up as sheep. She will be
available for comment on the campaign.
When: Monday the 22nd of June
12.30pm
Where: Parliament Building (the
sheep will then walk up Molesworth St to hand deliver the
petition to the AG’s office)
For more
information contact: Marianne Elliott, National
Director, 021 1106 086
“Our members believe this
kind of backroom dealing undermines our democratic process,
and are particularly concerned at the lack of transparency
on the part of the Government over their dealings,” says
Elliott.
“This lack of transparency is why we are
calling for a full investigation from the Auditor General
into the $11.5 million dollars of taxpayer money spent by
Foreign Minister Murray McCully on Hamood Al-Ali
Al-Khala’s sheep farm in Saudi Arabia. It’s time to get
to the bottom of confusion around the deal.”
The
details surrounding the deal remain unclear but when the
Labour-led government first banned the live exports of
sheep, Al Khalaf allegedly contacted the National Party to
express his opposition to the change. The National Party
allegedly then made a promise to Al Khalaf that once they
were in Government they would reverse the ban on live
exports. When National won the election in 2008, Al Khalaf
is said to have invested tens of millions of dollars in New
Zealand farmland and a ship that could transport sheep to
Saudi Arabia. But the National Party, now in Government,
didn’t change the law.
Says Ms Elliott; “The bits
and pieces of information that have been released have
raised a number of questions for our members about whether
proper process was followed for the use of taxpayer money.
Our members want to know exactly what happened, and
why.”
Petition: http://www.actionstation.org.nz/saudisheep
ENDS.
ActionStation
Our mission is to tautoko (support) and whakamana (uplift) everyday New Zealanders to act together in powerful and coordinated ways to create what we cannot achieve on our own: a society, economy and democracy that serves all of us - everyday people and Papatūānuku, the planet we love.
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