“It’s time to bury the hatchet,” said Prime Minster Helen Clark today over the rift between her and the sacked Maori
Affairs Minister Dover Samuels.
She said she hoped talks between Mr Samuels and herself in the New Year would lead to genuine reconciliation. “On
present statements there is every chance of that,” she said.
She said she was pleased to hear Mr Samuels speaking of reconciliation this morning.
Mr Samuels reignited the tension between the Prime Minister and himself last Friday, revealing that Miss Clark had sent
a letter to Police containing third hand allegations that Mr Samuels had committed incest with his daughter and been
involved with drug trafficking.
Miss Clark said she did not take responsibility for the break down of communications between the two. “No apology
offered, none due,” she said.