According to this morning's NZ Herald
National leader John Key will refuse to do a deal with Winston Peters or New Zealand First after the election, even if the Serious Fraud Office clears the suspended Foreign Minister.
Mr Peters is confident the SFO investigation into political donations by the wealthy Vela family and property magnate Sir Robert Jones will vindicate him, but Mr Key said last night that that was only part of a much wider problem for the NZ First leader.
"From National's point of view, we're ruling out working with New Zealand First and Winston Peters."
Asked if that meant he was ruling it out entirely, Mr Key said, "Yes."
If the SFO cleared Mr Peters, it "doesn't matter", Mr Key said.
It also did not matter if Parliament's privileges committee cleared him as well.
"The reality is that Winston Peters faces investigation not only by the SFO, but he also has to pass the test from the parliamentary privileges committee, and then go on and answer all the other many and varied allegations, which I would have thought if any of them are true would also be ruling him out as suitable to hold a [ministerial] warrant," Mr Key said.
If Helen Clark was a great leader she would say exactly the same things. We suspect that Phil Goff, should he be Labour leader, would be saying what John Key is saying. He is on record as saying that Winston speaks "bullshit". That is the type of Leader New Zealand needs.
