MEDIA STATEMENT

Kris Faafoi
MP for Mana
Tourism Spokesperson

3 November 2016

National should take Members’ Bills seriously

National has conceded that it is wasting the time of Parliament and taxpayer’s money by supporting Labour amendments to the Statutes Amendment Bill, Labour’s Tourism spokesman Kris Faafoi said today.

“Our amendment essentially will enact Nuk Korako’s ‘Lost Luggage’ Members Bill and will save the time of Parliament having to fully debate a piece of legislation that should never have been in the Members’ ballot in the first place.

“While every MP has a right to propose Members Bills, National is abusing the system by proposing inane and minor changes to legislation. This waste of time shows just how out of touch they are with the priorities.

“Today’s concession by National should now be followed up by taking the Members Bill process seriously. National has been embarrassed by this episode and has taken the first get out of jail card available. Labour was happy to sort out this mess.

“Each National MP is now under pressure to ensure their Members Bills aren’t ballot fillers designed to waste Parliament’s time and taxpayer money,” says Kris Faafoi.

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