New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says National could face a backlash from older voters following speculation about comments John Key made in a secret tape recording.
Key is finding himself under increasing pressure to allow the release of the recording made of his conversation with Act's Epsom candidate John Banks at a Newmarket cafe.
ONE News does not have the tape and can not confirm what was recorded, but from what is already in the public arena it seems likely the two men discussed the future of Don Brash and the Act party, and that unfavourable comments may have been made about Peters and the older voters who tend to support him.
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When asked if he recalled saying something about New Zealand First voters dying off, Key said: "I can't genuinely recall that one but as I say I'm not going to go into the details of it (the conversation)".
Peters claims he knows what was discussed during the meeting and believes his supporters have been insulted.
He said the truth of what was discussed by Key and Banks will be known soon.
"You're going to find out what some people think of older people that've made sacrifices in building this country," he said at a rally in Tauranga today.
Key claims he's not worried about what he might have said.
"I believe the conversation to be bland and I've got no reason -
from people who have listened to the tape and told me their version
of it - to believe otherwise."
Key said the details of what was discussed is now a matter for the police.
Labour leader Phil Goff earlier called the affair "a circus" and "a distraction", and called for the details of the conversation to be made public.
"The Act/National coalition ought to come clean and say what they were intending to do after the election, not keep it quiet now and spring a surprise on the electorate afterwards," he said.
"I think political parties should be as transparent as possible."
Goff told TV ONE's Breakfast this morning that the complaint is a waste of police resources.
"If it was a bland conversation, why are we wasting the police's time? Why doesn't [Key] just come clean, say what he said, and let's move on."
Yesterday Key laid a police complaint over the 'tea pot tapes', made when freelance photojournalist Brad Ambrose recorded his conversation with Banks.
Ambrose claims the recording was accidental.
A police statement confirmed that a formal complaint had been received from Key, and said that unlawfully recording a private conversation is potentially an offence under s216B Crimes Act 1961, carrying a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment
Media outlets could also face prosecution if they disclose private communications which have been unlawfully intercepted.
But a legal expert spoken to by ONE News believes that making the recording was not a criminal offence.
"There is a lot of case law in New Zealand and United States to say that in those situations forget it, there basically isn't any privacy where you're at a restaurant or a café. People could overhear you, they could lip-read what you're saying," said Gehan Gunasekara of Auckland University.
National claims it has legal advice that making the recording is a criminal offence.
The police say that they have commenced an active investigation
into the complaint.
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