John Key needs to unequivocally say whether Foreign Minister Murray McCully misled Cabinet over his actions in the Saudi sheep deal, or provide evidence that he didn’t, the Green Party said today.
“All we keep hearing is more obfuscation and word-games from John Key about whether Minister McCully misled Cabinet over his role in this shonky deal,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw.
“There’s a very simple question here that the Prime Minister needs to answer: Did McCully mislead Cabinet or didn’t he?
“It requires a yes or no answer but so far the Prime Minister has been unwilling to give one, including on Radio New Zealand again this morning.
“John Key knows the answer to this question but he’s hiding it from us.
“It’s important that the New Zealand public can have confidence in the ministers John Key has appointed.
“New Zealanders deserve to know whether those ministers, including Murray McCully, are involved in any corrupt, illegal or morally dubious activities.
“Let’s not forget that Murray McCully has a history of being involved in dodgy payoffs and payouts – he’s already been forced to resign from one ministerial portfolio, in 1999.
“We’ve yet to see any solid evidence from John Key that Murray McCully hasn’t been involved in yet another dodgy deal, this time in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s time for John Key to stop hiding and be upfront with New Zealanders about McCully’s behaviour.
“Our international reputation is on the line and John Key’s attempts to hide the truth are endangering it further,” said Mr Shaw.
