10,000 call for Investigation into Saudi deal - ActionStation
Almost 10,000 ActionStation members are calling for a full investigation by the Auditor-General into the $11.5 million
dollars of taxpayer money spent by Foreign Minister Murray McCully.
The National Director of ActionStation will deliver the petition to the Auditor General on Monday the 22nd of June at
12.30pm as part of an action with 4 people dressed up as sheep.
What: Marianne Elliott will be delivering the petition on behalf of 10,000 people as part of an action with 4 people dressed
up as sheep. She will be available for comment on the campaign.
When: Monday the 22nd of June 12.30pm
Where: Parliament Building (the sheep will then walk up Molesworth St to hand deliver the petition to the AG’s office)
For more information contact: Marianne Elliott, National Director, 021 1106 086
“Our members believe this kind of backroom dealing undermines our democratic process, and are particularly concerned at
the lack of transparency on the part of the Government over their dealings,” says Elliott.
“This lack of transparency is why we are calling for a full investigation from the Auditor General into the $11.5
million dollars of taxpayer money spent by Foreign Minister Murray McCully on Hamood Al-Ali Al-Khala’s sheep farm in
Saudi Arabia. It’s time to get to the bottom of confusion around the deal.”
The details surrounding the deal remain unclear but when the Labour-led government first banned the live exports of
sheep, Al Khalaf allegedly contacted the National Party to express his opposition to the change. The National Party
allegedly then made a promise to Al Khalaf that once they were in Government they would reverse the ban on live exports.
When National won the election in 2008, Al Khalaf is said to have invested tens of millions of dollars in New Zealand
farmland and a ship that could transport sheep to Saudi Arabia. But the National Party, now in Government, didn’t change
the law.
Says Ms Elliott; “The bits and pieces of information that have been released have raised a number of questions for our
members about whether proper process was followed for the use of taxpayer money. Our members want to know exactly what
happened, and why.”
ENDS.