Conniving Collins not fit to be a minister

Prime Minister John Key must stand Judith Collins down while he gets to the bottom of her secret meetings with Chinese border officials, her policy advisor and the Chinese managing director of her husband’s company Oravida, Labour Leader David Cunliffe says.

“Judith Collins has been forced to admit she hasn’t told the whole truth about her visit to China last October.

“Now we learn she not only visited Oravida and endorsed its product, but she also had lunch and dinner with the company’s boss Stone Shi. This dinner was also attended by a Chinese border official and her policy advisor.

“John Key and Judith Collins must explain why a Chinese border official was present at the dinner as this raises serious questions about the minister facilitating access for products supplied to Oravida by Sanfords; a company partly owned by the family of National Party President Peter Goodfellow.

“Revelations about Judith Collins’ secret dinner follow John Key’s admission last night that he misled the public over whether the Cabinet Office had read a translation of her endorsement on Oravida’s Chinese website.

“John Key’s about face on what the Cabinet Office told him is a very serious breach of his duty to the public.

“New Zealanders will be dumbfounded these meetings weren’t revealed earlier. John Key is well aware how bad this looks. This belated admission of favours for the big end of town is business as usual for the National Party.

“However an apology is where you accept you have done something wrong, not add more fuel to the fire. Judith Collins’ excuse that she wasn’t specifically asked about it shows how conniving she is.

“If Judith Collins can’t understand the extent of her conflict of interest during her trip to China, then she is not fit to be a minister,” David Cunliffe says.

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