Joyce's defiance of Auditor-General unacceptable

Steven Joyce’s determination to push ahead with his shady pokies deal despite the Auditor-General launching an inquiry is unacceptable, says Labour’s Economic Development spokesperson David Cunliffe.

“The Minister must put the international convention centre tender on hold and fully co-operate with the Auditor-General.

“He must also disclose any other secret deals he has been working on to sell New Zealand’s laws.

“National’s so-called tender has been rotten from the start.

“The public knows Prime Minister John Key ordered work on the tender to stop until his preferred bid was received from SkyCity.

“They know the job creations figures being used to rationalise selling the country’s laws to a casino are fictitious.

“But after years of shady negotiations ordinary Kiwis know very little else about the SkyCity deal, because the minister in charge of the tender has a contempt for New Zealanders’ right to know.

“Mr Joyce has refused to answer hundreds of written parliamentary questions about the convention centre tender. He has stopped potentially thousands of relevant documents from being released under the Official Information Act. He has been evasive in responding to questions in the House.

“No wonder the ordinary people feel there is one economy for the big end of town and another economy for the rest of us.

“Now the Auditor-General has said enough is enough. It’s not a moment too soon,” David Cunliffe said.