Winston Peters calls Fonterra vote result 'utter madness'
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
Despite already knowing, from her time as a Fonterra executive, that international commodity prices drive the domestic price of dairy products, Willis had her staff urgently press officials for international dairy price comparisons in the hours before her meeting with Fonterra’s chief executive.
Emails obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act show a last-minute scramble for hard data prior to the performative meeting she arranged to “look into” butter prices.
On the day before Willis was due to sit down with Miles Hurrell, the minister’s private secretary John Creech asked the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for “some facts and figures... so that the Minister has solid info”.
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