Prime Minister John Key has labelled David Cunliffe an "idiot" over the Labour leader's criticism of Key's efforts to improve welfare access for New Zealanders living in Australia.
Key made the comments in his weekly post-cabinet news conference, saying Cunliffe's criticisms ignored the fact that a Labour Government under Helen Clark had agreed to the changes, which meant New Zealanders arriving after 2001 are not eligible to the same welfare payments as other Australian taxpayers.
Key said he had again raised the issue with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in Sydney on Friday, but the Australian position had not changed, apart from a few tweaks around the area of accessibility for student loans.
"If the guy is going to deliberately mislead New Zealanders about the role the Labour Government played in signing New Zealanders up to this deal and then somehow try and blame me for it, he is an idiot. He is either being deliberately dishonest or has got terrible amnesia about the role Helen Clark and Labour played," he said.
Elsewhere, Key revealed that the New Zealand Government had stripped less than 10 New Zealand citizens of their passports because of fears they would use them to travel to Syria to fight with terrorist groups.
Key said some had dual nationality with Australia and some had been able to leave and were now fighting in Syria, possibly with Al Qaeda affiliated groups trying to overthrow the Bashir Assad-led Syrian Government.
Others who had intended to go to fight remained in New Zealand because they could not travel without passports, but had not been charged with crimes because they had not committed any. They remained free to travel and work within New Zealand, he said.
Also, Key said he had met with Auckland Mayor Len Brown last week to discuss Brown's proposal to accelerate plans for an underground rail loop, but that the Government's position of waiting until 2020 was unchanged.
(Updated with more details, quotes)
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.