September 27, 2007

Democracy demands electoral reform, says EPMU

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union has told Parliament's justice and electoral select committee that the principles of the Electoral Finance Bill are sound and the law must ensure the democratic process is open to all New Zealanders, not just the wealthy and the privileged.

In his oral submission to the select committee this afternoon, EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said that while the union has several issues with the bill in its current form, it strongly supports the bill's underlying democratic values.

"The EPMU supports a fair and open electoral system where all citizens have an equal chance to participate in our democracy regardless of their individual wealth," he said. "It is therefore entirely fair and appropriate to place limits on third party spending and to start counting that spending from January 1st on election year.

"Given this, we would like to see third party spending limits increased from the proposed $60,000 to a more realistic figure of $120,000 to allow citizens and interest groups a decent chance to campaign on their issues.

"It is also our strong preference to see greater transparency of donations to political parties as well as public funding of election campaigns to reduce the influence of money on our democracy, even if this is unlikely to happen before the next election.

"Our position on the Electoral Finance Bill is clear. When we have economic inequalities in our society that allow the very wealthy to spend large amounts of money to influence an election then it is entirely justified and appropriate for Parliament to pass a law to mitigate that imbalance.

"Subject to refinements, we strongly support this legislation being passed."

The EPMU is New Zealand's largest private sector trade union, representing 50,000 working New Zealanders across eleven industries.

ENDS

© Scoop Media