Tuesday 16 Jul 2002

ACT leader Richard Prebble says he's pleased by the results of last night's "worm" debate, given the fact that ACT's polls show undecided voters are mainly ex-Alliance supporters who can't work out which party on the Left to support.

"The debate shows that ACT's key issues are of concern to all New Zealanders," Mr Prebble said.

"Helen Clark's claim that I was wrong in stating that 184,000 New Zealanders have left the country permanently under Labour, is yet another one of the Prime Minister's outrageous misleading statements.

"The Department of Statistics' latest figures confirm that 184,000 people have left the country, stating on their emigration forms that they are leaving permanently - and the Prime Minister is in denial.

"This is the real issue in the immigration debate - the loss of New Zealanders.

"The Prime Minister's statement is similar to her earlier claim that only Mexico has lower income tax rates than New Zealand. That was also an outrageous falsehood. New Zealand has the highest rate of tax on low-income earners of any country in the OECD.

"It is also similar to the Prime Minister's claim, which she repeated last night, that crime has fallen. It's ironic that she made that statement on the same day that three Mongrel Mob members walked free from court in Palmerston North.

"It would appear our justice system has broken down when we have gang murders, and witness intimidation means there is no justice - and our PM assures us that crime is falling.

"Even the official police statistics show violent crime his risen 10.9 percent under Labour, and the government is sitting on the 2001 household crime victims survey which I believe shows New Zealand has a higher level of violent crime than the United States.

"It's a shame the media doesn't question the Prime Minister on these statements, rather than about two-year-old corn crops," Mr Prebble said.

ENDS

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