Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
21 MARCH 2017
English Shielding McCully Over Israel Blunder
Prime Minister Bill English has confirmed Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully did not have approval from cabinet to
support a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution criticising Israel, says New Zealand First.
“Section 5.73 of the cabinet manual expressly requires that any international proposal, including ‘denunciation’, must
first be approved by cabinet,” says New Zealand First Leader and MP for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters.
“Yet Mr English has repeatedly refused to state if the ‘spirit of unanimity’ in which the UNSC passed resolution 2334 was signed-off by cabinet.
“In Parliament today, Mr English wrongly stated cabinet approval was not required on the matter.
“Mr McCully should never have been allowed to act unilaterally on such an important issue,” says Mr Peters.
ENDS