Minor parties must play constructive role

Grant Gillon, Progressives spokesperson on local government

Minor parties must play constructive role

First Past the Post victory in Christchurch sends small parties a message about being more constructive in their approach, Progressive Local Government Spokesperson, Grant Gillon, says.

Christchurch voters have chosen to continue using the first-past-the-post system to elect their local body politicians by a wide margin on only a small turnout reflecting voter apathy.

"New Zealanders want politicians to get good things done for New Zealand by playing a constructive role in government.

"If minor parties are judged to be playing too much politics at the expense of actually getting things done for people then people will reject any new electoral system which they fear will deliver more representation to minor parties.

"What a lot of people I talk to can't understand is how come the Green Party lines up with the ACT Party to express no confidence in the Labour-Progressive coalition government. They can't understand why the Greens attack the Prime Minister over Iraq even though her stance has been a principled stand for New Zealand's interests.

"People can't understand how come the Greens line up with ACT to oppose proposals to make our streets safer from so-called boy-racers. People can't understand why the Greens say they have no confidence in Finance Minister Michael Cullen's budget - even though the budget addresses many - if not all - of the environmental concerns of the Green Party.

"STV, like MMP, offers New Zealanders a more representative electoral system. People will embrace a fairer electoral system when they are confident that minor parties will use power responsibly to get positive things done for New Zealand instead of just playing endless political games," Grant Gillon said.

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