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)
10 Comments
Scrap what remains of the trans agreement on reciprocal free entry to work.
NZ loses almost everytime someone goes to oz. NZ taxpayers pay the health and education costs then loses people in their prime working years to Oz. These young, skilled (moreso than the aust.community on average) come at no cost to Oz and half return in later years before they cost them anything in health.costs. Oz doesnt appreciate them, sticks with the Kiwi bludger myth and wont even pay any welfare to them out of the collective ex pat taxes. Doesnt let them vote etc etc. If they dont want them they should have the balls to say so. NZ needs them. Why bring in somalians to replace people we should'nt be losing.
Also OZ may need us as their lifeboat at some stage and I'm no longer in a mood ,given the above, to try and accommodate 20M aussies.
Dont be weak, take the initiative we are not their poor cousins. Scrap it now
Cunliffe should lay low and shut up , he and Helen Clark cravenly gave way to John Howard when the Ozzie's wanted to serve us another under-armer ....
... had they an ounce of brains between them , they'd have counter suggested that no Kiwis 18 years or older may gain residency rights in Australia unless they've had NZ citizenship for 10 years or more ...
That'd have stopped the stepping-stone immigrants who used the easier entry to NZ as a means to enter Australia .... and it'd have left intact the rights of the genuine taxpaying Kiwis in OZ ( 600 000 at last count ) ....
.... Goofy , Helen & Cunny screwed it up for us , big time !
GBH you think Helen listened to Cunliffe? That they ran the country together? Helen was a micro-managing control freak. Any faults and there are many dating back to her administration are her responsibilty.
My basic rule of thumb is I allow the current government one term of blaming the previous administration. After that I think if they don't like something then why haven't they changed it. As Mark L says we have options. Maybe they would not generate nice 'deal making' photo opportunities that Key likes but never the less he could take them.
Trying to blame what someone did 10 years ago shows an arrogant inability to accept responsibilty.
Key like Helen and Muldoon is a arrogant control freak. He hides it mostly by this friendly deal making demeanor but it is there. We will pay for it later.
Whether Cunny is any better, we will see.
I welcome Keys' comment.
It helps show up the carefully manufactured image of John key .for what it is.
A load of BS.
It will come as no surprise to anyone ,who watches Parliament.
Key is a petulent , aggresive BS artist who is unable , debate any issue in a productive manner.
Greens leader Russell Norman was right when he labled Key , "muldoon like"
Key is the most hostile. partisn, PM since Muldoon , no contest.
Yes, National are playing clever. They are closing down the worry-potentials, raising dummy-topics (flag, ffs) and attacking - stupidly, but then, their target audience is stupid, otherwise the 'castle' nonsense wouldn't have been agreed upon - folk like Tureia.
All the while they're selling us out to Monsanto, closing down our options and choices and ownership.
Two-faced shysters, in effect.
At least they're working with the current calendar, though. I see a poster up-thread is still two elections behind. Says a lot about the rest of his 'thinking'.
It really is time to call the Aussie bluff by surrendering our "brotherly" rights of movement and to threaten to become just another national citizens group. One benefit would be an immediate reduction of immigrants from India, China and South Africa, some of whom regard NZ only as a stop off on their way to Australia.
(note to the local immigration police. Is this too xenophobic?)
By all means keep the financial benefits of CER and any loosening of other laws.
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