In the wake of what he describes as “the annual farce played out at the Ratana marae, where Labour and National leaders fall over each other to ingratiate themselves and buy votes,” Libertarianz leader Richard McGrath said he would like to prostrate himself before the hierarchy of this country’s Jedi religion to which - according to the 2001 census - 1.5% of New Zealanders were affiliated.

“The Church of Jedi will be feeling alienated in their own country, with no politicians queueing up at their doorstep to participate in a vote auction,” he said.

“I can’t see why the people of Ratana should be a special case when there are other religions out there whose members whose votes, like those of Ratana, could also be purchased using taxpayer dollars,” he added.

He suggests religious organizations register with TradeMe so that political parties can bid online for the votes of their membership, as this would save a lot of unnecessary travelling and allow political parties to allocate their vote-buying budgets in a more planned and strategic manner.

For more information, see www.libertarianz.org.nz

ENDS

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