Banning Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters from a bus was an act of petty bullying by the government, the MP says.

'There was room on the bus for me, I saw the bus,” said the New Zealand First Leader.

'For Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye and ministry officials to claim my presence would breach a certificate of loading is bizarre.

'This is a government pushing their officials to tell porkies, to cover up a nightmare of political decision making that went so horribly wrong. They bullied the bus company.

'For the Associate Minister to say, as the media reported, that there were safety concerns if a bunch of politicians went on board with the schoolchildren is absurd.

'This was about one MP, who is a former teacher, has a police clearance, and was invited by parents and a school principal, being banned for political reasons.

'Now we have the government resorting to a cover-up described appropriately by broadcaster Willie Jackson and his commentator today as Busgate - that's when those in power lie to cover up wrongdoings.

'The moral of the story for this government is to front up, stop playing games, tell the truth, give the people of Northland a fair go and sort out the dusty roads.”