3 September 2015 MEDIA STATEMENT

John Key: where is your conscience?

The Prime Minister’s refusal to raise the refugee quota in the face of an international humanitarian crisis shows a lack of empathy and moral leadership, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says.

“There are times in politics when you are faced with stark moral choices between right and wrong. This is one of those times. Raising the quota is the right thing to do. Doing nothing, as John Key is doing, is morally wrong.

“The Prime Minister said it was an act of leadership when he committed $65 million to have 16 military trainers in Iraq, but he has no money for extra help for refugees.

“Where is his conscience? Where is his moral leadership?

“New Zealanders want our Prime Minister to do the right thing and help where we are needed, where the UNHCR is asking us to help.

“The flag issue should have been about who we are as a nation. This issue is just that. How Kiwis react to desperate people fleeing terror on the other side of the world is about who we are as a people. It’s about who John Key is as a leader,” Andrew Little says.

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