04 August 2004

Hodgson sets record straight on Kit Richards

Don Brash’s tactic to draw parallels between the Maori Language Commission issue and Mr Kit Richards’ departure from Timberlands West Coast four years ago is spurious.

“Dr Brash has decided that the facts shouldn’t get in the way of his own prejudices. He has developed a habit of carelessness about the truth,” says Pete Hodgson who was the Minister Responsible for Timberlands West Coast when the Government decided to halt the company’s plans to log native forest.

“At that time Mr Richards, who was a Timberlands senior manager (not the chief executive as Dr Brash claims), was part of an organised campaign to overturn a Government decision that directly affected the company he worked for. The campaign was deliberate and subterranean. Mr Richards’ contribution to it was peppered by the language of violence towards three Ministers. At that point his continued employment by the company became untenable for me and for the Chair of the Board.

“Dr Brash chooses to overlook all of these facts. Yet, had he ever experienced a Reserve Bank employee actively challenging any of his dodgy interest rate decisions, his own response would have been swift. It is time for Dr Brash to examine his latest outbreak of double standards.”

ENDS

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