Media Release

25 November 2002

Air NZ/Qantas Proposal Too Early To Determine

New Zealand First Leader, Rt Hon Winston Peters, today suggested it was premature in the extreme at this point to judge the outcome of the proposed Air New Zealand/Qantas marriage.

“We simply do not have the information available at this stage to determine in a responsible way the impact of the proposal”, said Mr Peters.

“There is a great amount of detail yet to be disclosed and the analysis of both the New Zealand Commerce Commission and Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission will be of great value in determing the benefits and any disadvantages to New Zealanders.

“New Zealand First’s concern, as a responsible party, is that the travelling public of New Zealand have their interests protected in so far as their ability to access internationally competitive prices and services,” said Mr Peters.

“The New Zealand taxpayer investment in Air New Zealand and its protection is paramount and nothing which is outside the confines of best commercial practice or the best national interests for New Zealand and New Zealanders should be acceptable.

New Zealand First is not prepared to judge the merits of the proposition without having been fully appraised of the facts, and to date no other party outside of the Government has been,” concluded Mr Peters.

ENDS

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