Hon Dr Nick Smith
National Party Outdoor Recreation Spokesman

1 August 2005

Labour resorts to blatant lies in desperation

Labour has become so desperate to hang on to power that it has resorted to telling lies about National’s policies, says National’s Outdoor Recreation spokesman, Nick Smith.

“National has never proposed charging hunters a fee. It is not in our policy or in any speech. We have had an excellent reception from hunters to our policy, announced yesterday, which I suspect is why Labour is trying so hard to distort its content.

“Hunters do a great public service by keeping deer, tahr and wild pig numbers down. It makes no sense for DOC to charge hunters a fee when it would need to pay professional hunters to control these animal populations.

“Rather than distorting National’s policy, Mr Carter should say what Labour would do. The current permitting system run by his department is a farce.

“Labour is completely out of touch with the frustration hunters have with DOC.

“National’s policy is about hunters being far more involved in decision-making about these game animals. We look forward to working with hunters to implement this policy,” says Dr Smith.

ENDS

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