Clark must stop dithering over Tamihere

Monday 11 Apr 2005
Rodney Hide
Press Releases -- Other

ACT Leader Rodney Hide said today that Helen Clark's dithering over John Tamihere's remarks was compounding the offence he has caused.

"The Prime Minister should state categorically that John Tamihere's career is over and expel him from the Labour Party. Giving him another holiday to mull over his options and have more lunches is not good enough.

"Helen Clark's inaction when Tariana Turia said 'the holocaust suffered by Maori tribes during the land wars needs to be acknowledged' was bad enough. Now we have her dithering over what to do about John Tamihere following his statement that he was `sick and tired of hearing how many Jews got gassed'. Her first reaction was simply to say that she was sure he didn't mean any offence. That's not good enough.

"The Prime Minister is stalling for time for crass political reasons. Instead, she should be setting the standard for her government and the country as she promised. She should put politics aside for a change and act on principle," said Mr Hide.

ENDS

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

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