Bill English MP
National Party Deputy Leader

5 December 2007

Greens have no confidence in new election law

National Party Deputy Leader Bill English says a last-minute amendment to the Electoral Finance Bill shows the Greens are getting cold feet on the shonky piece of legislation.

The Greens' amendment proposes that an independent panel be established within two months of the bill passing, to completely review this new piece of legislation.

Mr English says Labour evidently supports the Greens' amendment, otherwise it would have applied a financial veto to it.

"If the Greens really believe in this bill, and if it is so fair and transparent, why are they proposing it be reviewed within two months of being passed into law?

“This is an admission that the law as written is morally bankrupt.

“But, if they don’t like the bill, they could end the farce now. They can vote against it or they can abstain. Instead, they are proposing more bureaucracy and more confusion and more patch-ups.

“The Greens are supposed to be a party that supports free speech.

“Yet they have defied the Human Rights Commission by supporting this bill without further public consultation, and they have been complicit in overturning the long-held convention that election law changes should have bi-partisan support.

“It’s not too late for the Greens to do the right thing and make a difference. They can help kill the Electoral Finance Bill.”

ENDS

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