Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Advice to Speaker denied

Updated at 12:55 pm on 12 February 2013

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Murray McCully denies he advised the Speaker to stop a West-Papuan politician from speaking at Parliament.

Opposition MPs says the Speaker's decision to turn down an application to host Benny Wenda at a public function in the west foyer at Parliament was based on Government sensitivities to West Papua.

Wenda, who lives in exile in Britain, was going to talk about the plight of indigenous people in the Papua region.

The Speaker refused the event, on the grounds it was not appropriate.

Mr McCully said his office advised a couple of National Party MPs against co-sponsoring the proposed event.

But Speaker David Carter was not one of them.

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