Labour Is Innumerate

"The Labour Party continues to demonstrate its mastery of economic concepts in its full-page advertisements in the press," Internal Affairs Minister Jack Elder said today.

The advertisement states that in April, the Government cut Fire Service funding by $13 million.

"Strangely enough, in April the Government increased Fire Service funding by $9.38 million," Mr Elder said.

"I am not surprised, however, because for the last 18 months the Labour Party has been getting its numbers muddled, and has had great difficulty getting its collective head around pluses and minuses."

The advertisement also erroneously claimed Taupo could end up with no paid firefighters under the Fire Service modernisation plan, Mr Elder said.

"If Labour had bothered to read the Commission's plans, it would have found it is proposed to have 10 paid fire officers in Taupo - but then again, Labour doesn't let the facts get in the way of a good scaremonger."

Mr Elder said he would be referring the matter to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board.