The New Zealand Prime Minister has been thrown out of parliament, after being questioned over the Panama Papers. John Key was asked to apologise for linking Greenpeace, Amnesty International and Mojo Mathers to the leaked documents by Greens co-leader James Shaw on 11 May.
Key responded, Mr Speaker, I havent misrepresented Greenpeace, they are in the database as a beneficiary of the Exodus Trust. I dont like the fact theyre there, but they are there, so in what way have I misrepresented them?
He then failed to respond to the Speaker of the House, David Carter, when he attempted to bring the house to order. This led to Carter throwing the prime minister out of the room.
The Speaker said, It happened yesterday, I gave him fair warning. When I stand to my feet and call for order, he is to be treated no differently than any member of this house. The prime minister will leave the chamber.
Days before, Key had called on Shaw to question Greenpeace and other charities about their presence in the Panama Papers.
The New Zealand government has fallen under increasing pressure to react to the leaked documents, after local media uncovered 61,000 documents in the Panama Papers relating to the country. The papers shone a light on offshore tax-havens around the world, after leaking documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.
