Nick Smith’s dirty dealing

Labour’s Charles Chauvel has released the paper records of Labour’s attempts to agree a bi-partisan ETS with National.

In total, Labour presented three draft MOUs detailing possible agreements, each moving towards what they believed to be National’s position. Additionally, there was a letter from Phil Goff to John Key a month ago that clearly laid out National and Labour’s positions, the reasons behind Labour’s position, and how agreement could be reached.

National’s responses to Labour are weeks or months in coming when they come at all. Key simply didn’t deign to reply. Nick Smith whinged on, in each of three letters, about how he didn’t get a reply to a letter back in 2005. At no time did Smith actually set out National’s position. Indeed, Smith denied that the statement of National’s position Labour obtained from a Nat staffer was correct. Of course, it turned out to be exactly what National has now come up with.

It looks like Smith is the problem. He never had any intention of trying to create a deal. he was just stringing Labour along.

No wonder Chauvel said “Negotiations with Nick Smith were (pause) I’m not sure now we had any discussions in good faith.”

On a similar note, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Nats have screwed the Maori Party once more.

First, the Maori Party defended selling out the environment by saying that benefits would be increased to protect low-income people from the ETS’s costs. Nope. Then Paula Bennett revealed the Nats are just promising the CPI adjustment that happens every year.

Next, Pita Sharples announced that there will be an additional subsidy for insulating 2,000 Maori homes. Nope. Gerry Brownlee said there’s nothing additional to the existing insulation programme.

Now, where did the Maori Party get this false understandings of National’s intentions? Why, from the man they made the ETS deal with – Nick Smith.

lprent: I’ve posted on this habit before – Nick Smith lying with numbers.

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