Ombudsman’s orders: John Banks can’t hide

If ACT MP John Banks really has ‘nothing to fear, nothing to hide’ he should have voluntarily allowed police to release his statement into allegations of corruption, Labour’s Associate Security and Intelligence spokesperson Grant Robertson says.

“The Ombudsman’s ruling today proves Labour was right to pursue the release of this information. This is a matter of high public interest involving a sitting electorate MP.

“Ombudsman Ron Paterson has found the majority of Bank’s statement to Police about donations to his 2010 mayoralty campaign should be released.

“However now the matter is before the court, it can’t be made public until proceedings against Banks have concluded.

“John Key should have demanded to see this statement or get an explanation from Banks as to how he could forget being handed a $15,000 donation from Sky City and meeting Kim Dotcom.

“John Banks must now be aware that his insistence on secrecy is a farce when there is already so much information about these allegations in the public arena,” Grant Robertson says.

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