Goff Rules Out Harawira (But Not Winston)
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Labour leader Phil Goff today ruled out a Labour coalition with any party formed Hone Harawira after the next election. He said that that, along with personal and policy differences, Harawira's behaviour has shown he would be an "unreliable" coalition partner.
However he maintained that negotiations with Winston Peters were "hypothetical" and depended on whether Peters returned to Parliament. Goff noted Peters' reliability during previous terms.
At the beginning of today's press conference Goff offered his sympathies to Japan on the massive destruction cause by the earthquake and tsunami and supported NZ's sending of a USAR team to assist. Also discussed were the Canterbury earthquake response – with a likely inquiry into the building collapses and requests for special compensation consideration from Chinese authorities for their international students who died in Christchurch – and political advice offered to Goff during the ACT Party conference.