Labour leader David Cunliffe has had to perform a U-turn after this morning announcing Labour was against oil exploration in the Maui's dolphin mammal sanctuary, when it actually approves.
National has jumped on the gaffe, saying Labour is hypocritical because it allowed 13 wells to be drilled in the area.
The Government has opened up 3000 square kilometres of a marine mammal sanctuary for oil exploration on the North Island's west coast – home to the Maui's dolphin. The Green Party obtained documents revealing that last week.
This morning Labour came out opposed, aligning itself with the Greens.
"I don't see any need for the exploration permits to overlap the sanctuary, so yes, I'm opposed to that," said Mr Cunliffe.But this afternoon saw a U-turn from Labour, because the last Labour Government approved 13 wells to be drilled in the area.
The Greens continued their criticism of the Government today.
"His legacy to this country will be to drive the Maui's dolphin toward extinction," said Green Party co-leader Dr Russel Norman.
However John Key dismissed the complaints as "a load of mumbo jumbo".
"He wants to close down Taranaki, the thousands of jobs that are supported there, and what is incredible is that David Cunliffe […] wants to do that as well," said Mr Key.
But it turns out Mr Cunliffe is open to exploration in the dolphins' home if "done responsibly".
It looks as though Andrew Little is the winner here. Earlier in the year, he and Shane Jones were the lone voices of sanity in Labour over oil and gas exploration in Taranaki.
And once again, David Cunliffe has been exposed as a wavering duffer who hasn't got a clue what side of the issue he's on. It hasn't helped that Tamati Coffey, #30 on Labour's list, but already with a profile higher than his leader's was the centrepiece of a Maui's dolphin protest outside Simon Bridges' Tauranga office on Saturday; check these out:
From the pictures, the Labour Party flags, the political rhetoric and the many other comments on Tamati Coffey's Twitter feed, it is patently obvious that he was representing the Labour Party on Saturday, and was protesting Simon Bridges' decision not to exclude the area inhabited by the dolphins from exploration.
That sends a pretty good signal that, right up until the moment that David Cunliffe flip-flopped this evening, Labour was opposed to oil exploration in the dolphin sanctuary. We actually feel sorry for Tamati Coffey; allowing his profile to be used for this protest on the basis that his party actually did stand against the Government on this issue. Who would blame him for feeling totally disillusioned this morning?
David Cunliffe can't manage simple, straightforward policies, and doesn't seem to have a clue what he and Labour stand for. How on earth could he be expected to make the decisions needed to run the country?
