Kiwi interests should come first – not corporate interests

The National-led government needs to stop being dictated to by multi-national corporations and start putting the best interests of New Zealanders ahead of corporate profits, says Labour’s Internal Affairs spokesperson Chris Hipkins.

“News that SkyCity has decided to invest in a new International Convention Centre in Auckland is great news for the economy, locally and nationally. But that doesn’t mean we should rush out and change our laws and regulations to suit the interests of SkyCity’s shareholders,” said Chris Hipkins.

“When Warner Brothers held a gun to National’s head, John Key rolled over and changed our employment laws to suit their whims. Now we’re seeing him roll over and offer to change our gambling laws to suit SkyCity. That’s not good enough.

“The National government should be guided by what is in the best interests of all New Zealanders, not what’s in the best interests of corporate giants.

“It’s ironic that National aren’t willing to back New Zealand companies like KiwiRail, preferring to see contracts for new trains and carriages shipped offshore, but when one of the private sector big corporates clicks their fingers it seems there isn’t anything John Key won’t do to please them.

“New Zealand has a legislative moratorium on new casinos and increased opportunities for gambling. National said before the election they had no plans to change that. It now looks like that’s yet another promise that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on,” said Chris Hipkins.

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