Key admits rethink on Maori seats despite public denial

National Party leader John Key was in the middle of another controversy after admitting yesterday he told the Maori Party he was prepared to drop a policy to abolish the Maori seats in Parliament.

"They've raised it with us on numerous occasions and I've made it quite clear to them it's not a bottom line for us," he said while on the election campaign trail in Dunedin yesterday. He had not previously said that, and had disagreed with Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples' account of a private meeting at which Sharples said Key gave him an assurance the policy would be dropped if National needed the Maori Party's support after the election on November 8.

When he was asked about that during Tuesday night's leaders' debate on TV One, Key said: "I've never given that assurance. There is no formal agreement. I'm sorry, but he's got it wrong."

Yesterday, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Key's comment during the debate was "an outright fib".

Before yesterday's admission, a senior Maori Party staff member backed Sharples' account of the meeting with Key and said National's deputy leader, Bill English, had attended it as well. English said yesterday he backed Key's version of events there was no agreement.

"John's position has been consistent that he will not negotiate with anyone before the election," English said.

The Maori Party has a policy of entrenching the seats in law.

It believes they should never be abolished without Maori consent. National's policy is that a process to abolish them should begin when all historic Treaty claims have been settled, which it hopes to achieve by 2014.

This fundamental difference has been seen as a serious problem if National needs to negotiate with the Maori Party after the election. NZPA

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Chris Laming   #5   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Labour turned a $500million surplus into ten years of deficits.. You think we can tust them when next year is going to be even tougher?

Jay   #4   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Yes, I think we would be treading on very dangerous ground electing an investment bank trained PM.They think in the discredited current system that the rest of the world is currently decrying. How could he possibly ditch that conditioning to take us into a 'post-extreme capitalist' world?? If he was to run the economy the way the bank have been running themselves, I think we are in for an even rougher time. Helen and her coalition may not be new, but we do know what we have got, and with a decent MMP mix tempering them, labour is still the safer option currently.

Chris   #3   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

To numbers 1 and 2

I suppose u are a supporter of the maori seats just because national is against them?

Any way of bringing down John Key I suppose.

I would think that Helen Clark ignoring law and keeping Winston Peters in politics because she needs him is a little worse than John Key changing a policy to suit a potential coalition partner wouldn't u agree?

A money trader trades currency for a firm. He or she trys to buy dollars when they are high and sell them when they are low. It takes an incrediable amount of knowledge in the economy to be successful in doing it.

ianmac   #2   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

It is very hard to defend a would-be PM who keeps on doing this. It arises I think, from John Key telling his audience what they want to hear in the name of expediency. Did his experience as a money trader lead to this? Actually what does a money trader do?

John McDonald   #1   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

flip flop

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