Tamihere should apologise, says Cullen

Michael Cullen

Maverick Labour MP John Tamihere should apologise for what he had said, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said today.

Mr Tamihere today admitted he made an error of judgment in making an extraordinary attack on colleagues and core groups of Labour support.

But Dr Cullen today told reporters Mr Tamihere should apologise.

In an article published in Investigate magazine at the weekend Mr Tamihere labelled senior cabinet minister Steve Maharey "smarmy", and Conservation Minister Chris Carter "a tosser" and a "queer".

Mr Tamihere also attacked trade unions, women and Prime Minister Helen Clark herself, who he said "goes to pieces" emotionally.

The former cabinet minister also said a lot of gay women formed Miss Clark's support network and her close adviser Heather Simpson was "butch" and "dangerous".

Dr Cullen said the comment had shown him in a bad light.

"What he said about me I think was intended to be flattering but didn't turn out that way from my perspective," Dr Cullen said.

He has supported Mr Tamihere in the past and said today he hoped the MP could get through this.

"He's an able person, clearly he's been under some stress and needs a bit of time to think about life."

Mr Tamihere needed to "breath deeply, count to 10 and maybe count to 10 again," Dr Cullen said.

"I think an apology would be a good idea.

Justice Minister Phil Goff echoed Dr Cullen's sentiments, also saying that Mr Tamihere's comments were incorrect and unacceptable.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said she had spoken to Mr Tamihere this morning.

She would not say whether she expected an apology from Mr Tamihere but said she had not asked for one.

"We're going to be in a dialogue for a few days... and I'm not going to be broadcasting a dialogue through the media.

"Well, as I said yesterday the ball's in his court. I note this morning he said he's with the Labour Party, he backs the leadership and that sounds to me like someone who wants a dialogue."

It was for Mr Tamihere to determine whether he had a future with the Labour Party, Helen Clark told reporters on her way to Labour's caucus meeting.

She said many in the caucus had contacted her and Mr Tamihere was "somewhat isolated" from his friends.

The caucus knew the importance of being a team and as she had said yesterday Mr Tamihere had had a lot of support from that team, people expected to see it reciprocated "and I think you saw some signs of that in his comments this morning".

Among Mr Tamihere's claims was that Dr Cullen had duped coalition partners to get their support for legislation.

"We wouldn't survive without Cullen -- he can cut a deal on a piece of legislation, he can change a single word in a piece of legislation without those other bastards (coalition partners) knowing about it," Mr Tamihere said.

United Future leader Peter Dunne said these claims were "absurd" and did not reflect the reality that anyone who had worked closely with the parties would know.

"I think he misunderstands the whole way in which this relationship works. It doesn't come down to slipping words into legislation. It's much more fundamental than that and we've always operated on a good faith, no surprises basis and I don't think there's any evidence to suggest that the contrary has been the case," Mr Dunne told NZPA.

Asked what he thought of Mr Tamihere's outburst, Mr Dunne today said: "Well, I've heard of dramatic suicide notes."

People were entitled to their own views but anyone who was part of a caucus should at least identify with its core issues, he said.

"If this is support, I'd hate to see opposition."

- NZPA