Goff on Labour 'deal': PM made it up

Phil Goff: "My suspicion is that [John Key] has made it up." Photo / Doug Sherring

Former Trade Minister Phil Goff believes Prime Minister John Key has invented a suggestion that Labour also considered a "commercial solution" to settle a dispute with a Saudi Arabian investor which was damaging relations with New Zealand.

Mr Key has hinted that Cabinet papers would emerge soon to embarrass Labour over its criticisms of National's commercial solution to settle the dispute with Hamood Al Ali Khalaf about the ban on live sheep exports from New Zealand.

Labour has received 10 Cabinet papers from its last term in Government relating to live sheep exports with Saudi Arabia - as it is entitled to receive so long as it keeps them confidential.

But Mr Goff says there is nothing in the papers to embarrass Labour nor is there any reference to a "commercial solution" as Mr Key suggested.

"There is nothing in any of those papers that refer to that at all so either he has made it up or he is referring to some document that I don't know about," Mr Goff said.

"My suspicion is that he has made it up but the ball is absolutely in their court now."

Mr Goff said that in accordance with procedures over the release of old Cabinet papers, Labour had written to the Cabinet secretary saying it had no objection to any of the 10 papers being released.

Former Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton also drew up Cabinet papers on the issue and has no objection to them being released.

Mr Goff's colleague David Parker yesterday tried to table two old Labour Cabinet documents in Parliament, but ministers Steven Joyce and Simon Bridges objected on the grounds that it was not the proper process to have such documents released.

Requests for the old papers are being handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully, who promoted the dispute settlement, has been in the Middle East this week and out of the firing line over the "agrihub" settlement.

The deal comprised a $4 million payment for a combination of settlement of the dispute and establishing a breeding farm in Saudi Arabia; plus $6 million for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to contract the delivery of New Zealand agricultural services at the farm to build a stronger presence in the region.

Mr Goff said it was hard to understand how it was going to work.

"I'm keeping a partially open mind on it - it just looks like a cover for passing across $10 million or $11 million to the unhappy private investor," he said.

He said it was legitimate for a foreign minister to unblock any obstacle "but if you are going to do that, you have to be very careful indeed".

The way the Saudis operated was different from how things worked in New Zealand.

"Their system does not have the ethics of our system.

"Their system is 'If it's my cousin that's got a problem, you fix his problem then I'll give you what you want'."