As widely reported yesterday, Labour has lodged a formal complaint over John Key’s most recent lie to Parliament:
Labour complains to Speaker over John Key’s KiwiSaver claims
Prime Minister John Key is facing a breach of privilege complaint over his claim Inland Revenue told him changes to the KiwiSaver scheme “will not make a blind bit of difference” to enrolments. …
Questioned about the move in Parliament, a week after the May Budget, the Prime Minister said it would have no impact.
“[T]he removal of the $1,000 kick-start contribution will not make a blind bit of difference to the number of people who join KiwiSaver,” Key said on May 26.
Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei asked Key in response: “What evidence does the Prime Minister have that the sign-up rates for KiwiSaver will not be affected?”
“That is the formal advice from the Inland Revenue Department,” Key said…
That’s the claim. What the IRD said was:
it would lead to “lower numbers of KiwiSaver members (particularly among the self-employed and children)”.
As Grant Robertson puts it:
“The Prime Minister has a fundamental requirement to tell the truth to Parliament. Blatantly misrepresenting advice he receives brings the integrity of Parliament into question.”
So Key has been caught out in another lie to Parliament, how does he respond?
A spokesman for Key said he stood by his statement.
Of course he does. Key is now standing by a statement which is a lie (what the IRD told him) about an original statement which is factually incorrect (changes to Kiwisaver won’t make a blind bit of difference):
A month after the Budget, ANZ, the largest provider of KiwiSaver, revealed that the number people enrolling had fallen by more than 50 per cent. Other KiwiSaver providers have also indicated a sharp fall in enrolments since the Budget.
No wonder his fans are so proud of him.
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