Ruth
DYSON
Conservation Spokesperson 251659264

11 October 2011 MEDIA STATEMENT
PM must drop the spin

Contradictory advice regarding the state of the container ship, Rena, suggests the New Zealand public are again being spun a line by the Government, Labour’s Conservation spokesperson Ruth Dyson says.

“On the one hand we have experts telling us the Rena is breaking up, and on the other we have the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport claiming it isn’t.

“A mayday call has been sent out and all the remaining crew have been taken off the ship. More oil is pouring into the Bay.

“Mr Key’s growing tendency to say one thing and then another won’t wash any more. The public wants the truth,” Ruth Dyson said.

“Expert opinion can be interpreted differently by different people - Mr Key has told us that too - but when there are very specific explanations given, as in the case of the Rena and the damage it has suffered, it would be in everyone’s interest for the Prime Minister to drop the spin.

“None of us want that ship to break up, but if it is going to, then nothing Mr Key says will stop it from doing so.

“Whether the captain was or wasn’t drinking doesn’t really matter right now, either.

“If the Government put as much urgency into fixing the problem as it has in trying to find out why it happened, then we might be getting somewhere.

“There has been a huge community response to this tragedy. People are looking to help, not lay blame.

“Unfortunately John Key’s response so far has been all about pointing the finger. The community deserves better,” Ruth Dyson said.

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