Allegations against the National Party of illegal activity in leaking Budget documents yesterday are "absolutely outrageous", Deputy Leader Paula Bennett says.
National yesterday claimed it has leaked parts of the 2019 Budget , the highly secretive details of which were to be released tomorrow. The party released 22 pages with details of many Budget portfolios. It did not include education funding or any details about specific mental heath funding.
The Treasury Secretary said today that Budget information taken from Treasury's website c ame under attack 2000 times over 48 hours .
However, Ms Bennett remained adamant today that no illegal action was taken by National.
"This is unprecedented and a major step, and I think it's a distraction that they're trying to do two days before a budget when they know they've got incompetence," she said in a fiery interview on TVNZ1's Breakfast.
"We've had an extraordinary 24 hours where we have been putting out information and now have the Treasury and the Finance Minister alleging there has been serious hacking systematic going on, and to be including police against the National Party, her majesty's loyal opposition, is outrageous, absolutely outrageous."
The PM says the Government hasn’t accused National of hacking Treasury.
She also called the allegations "very serious" and "absolutely abhorrent", saying, "it will be proven that actually nothing illegal has gone on by the National Party, at all, via ourselves or any third party. And so here we are with the highest office of the land, the Finance Minister, the Treasury of this country actually making allegations against us like this - it is our reputation that is currently being tainted and I think there is going to be some big questions to be answered and I would be expecting heads to roll."
The National leader would not disclose how National obtained the information.
Ms Bennett says the party is complying with police, but said the information was released because it painted a different picture to what the Government had been talking about with it's "wellbeing budget", including a $1.3 billion investment into defence.
However, New Zealand First MP Shane Jones - a Cabinent member for the coalition Government - called out the National Party for running into police matters before - specifically pointing out Invercargill MP Sarah Dowie sending a text to Jami-Lee Ross telling him he "deserved to die", as well as Leader Simon Bridges' "dodgy" donations with China.
"Now the police, no doubt are going to look into what part the National Party played in it [the Budget leak]. But the Budget will still be released [tomorrow]," Mr Jones said.
Simon Bridges won’t say how he got the information.
"A lot of it is sensationalism and melodrama from my colleague on my right [Ms Bennett], but hey, life's going to go on."
Ms Bennett snapped back, saying "at the end of the day, what we've got by those three examples, Shane, are people trying to bring us down using police in a way that I would say is reckless because they want to try and gag us and shut us up before the Budget and I think using that process actually shows people that are extremely worried and they should be."
With reference to the use of the phrase "systemic hacking", Ms Bennett said "that's the language they have used so they better be able to back that up - and they won't be able to".
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