John Banks has to go whichever way

John Banks has failed both of the tests John Key set for him remaining as a Minister and he needs to go, says Labour’s Deputy Leader Grant Robertson.

“John Key has said that if John Banks lied to him he would be sacked as a Minister.

“On the 1st of May this year, John Key told Parliament that John Banks had given his Chief of Staff an assurance that he was not aware that Kim Dotcom had made the donation to his Mayoral campaign.

“Yet sworn statements from Kim Dotcom, his bodyguard and his lawyer, released yesterday, show that John Banks did know about the donation and could recall it as recently as February this year.

“John Banks lied to the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff and by the Prime Minister’s own rules, he should be sacked.

“If John Key is so determined to set only a legal standard for his Ministers’ conduct rather than an ethical one, John Banks has failed that test too.

“The Police Criminal Assessment Report released yesterday concludes that John Banks’ actions meant that the elements for a prosecution under Section 134 (2) of the Local Electoral Act 2001 had been met. It did not proceed because it fell outside the time for prosecution.

“In other words, the law had been breached but John Banks got away with it because of the elapsed time.

“Whichever way the Prime Minister looks at it, John Banks has not met the standards to be a Minister, and he should be sacked,” said Grant Robertson.