While National is trying to pretend John Key’s quote that “we would love to see wages drop” is a non-issue, behind the scenes they’re floundering.
We’ve all heard the multiple and conflicting denials (“I can’t recall”, “I never said it”, “I was misquoted”, “I was talking about Australian wages”), and now thanks to a lazy cut-and-paste job from one National MP in response to our survey we’ve managed to get ahold of the party’s internal lines on the issue. Note how this National MP is talking in the first person as if he is John Key.
The lines show a party that has gone into damage control. This is one story they’re desperate to shut down.
National wants to raise wages in New Zealand, because that is the path to a more prosperous society and one that can afford decent services.
I repeatedly refer to our concerns about the increasing income gap between New Zealand and Australia, because we are falling further and further behind.
Michael Cullen and Labour’s allies are showing how desperate they are by putting out these distortions. In regard to the actual quote in the article, I was referring to wages in Australia dropping. The preceding paragraphs make clear I was talking about how Australia is luring New Zealanders through attractive wage compensation.
Labour and its allies fail to mention that, nor the quote which reads: “The way we want to see wages increase is because productivity is greater. So people can afford more.”
You might want to keep an eye on these because they’re likely to be popping up verbatim all over the place.
So anyway, let’s get this straight: it’s almost two months since the article came out and almost a week since the story broke and these are the best lines they can come up with? If I was John I’d be asking Crosby Textor for my money back.
Hat tip: Shane Ardern
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