Labour MP Shane Jones has lashed out at Countdown once again, this time accusing the supermarket giant of squeezing hundreds of thousands of dollars out of Lotto NZ.
Mr Jones told Parliament that since he'd raised allegations that Countdown and its parent company Progressive Enterprises had bullied suppliers "an avalanche
of information" had been sent to the Commerce Commission which was investigating.
But Mr Jones said he had asked his colleagues to try get Lotto NZ to appear before parliamentary committees to probe its "cosy relationship" with Countdown and to account for claims made in an email he'd received.
Reading from the email, Mr Jones said it contained allegations "that even Lotto NZ have had intimidation tactics used by both Countdown and Woolworths on numerous occasions... With all the Lotto executive team keeping this very quiet".
Mr Jones said the email claimed that "hundreds of thousands of dollars have been paid to both these entities in project payments".
