Government should Cease Electoral Rorts

MEDIA RELEASE MAY 21, 2017

Right to Life believes that the manipulation of the electoral process in Epsom and Ohariu-Belmont is a distasteful rort and a breach of democracy. The result is that there are two Members in Parliament who are there solely because of the manipulation of the government who have gifted these electorates to them. If these Members were required to seek election on their own merits it would be reasonable to conclude that they would not be in Parliament. It is the right of the electorate to elect the person they wish to represent them and not for the government to undermine the integrity of the electoral system for its own purposes. The removal of these obnoxious rorts would enhance public confidence in the fairness of our MMP system and Parliamentary democracy.

The government wishes to maintain the charade that these Members are leaders of significant political parties and to provide the illusion that the government is in a coalition with two other important parties.

The total list votes for ACT and United Future reveal that they enjoy minuscule support. United Future received 5,286 list votes at the 2014 general election or 0.22 per cent of the total vote. ACT received 16,689 list votes, 0.69 per cent of the total votes. There is the requirement that a party needs to receive 5 per cent of the total list vote to win list seats in Parliament. On present voting patterns, these two parties have no prospect in the immediate future of winning list seats in Parliament.

Right to Life believes that it is the duty of every Member of Parliament to defend the common good and to support legislation that is going to uphold the inalienable right to life of every person from conception to natural death and not to legislate for the strong to kill the weak. The Hon Peter Dunne and the Hon David Seymour both support the decriminalisation of abortion which would cease to recognise the killing of the unborn as a crime and would remove legal protection for vulnerable mothers and their precious unborn. The Hon Peter Dunne and the Hon David Seymour both support euthanasia which would allow doctors to kill their patients or assist in their suicide. The later has a euthanasia bill in the ballot waiting to be drawn. This bill presents a very real threat to the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community, the aged, the disabled and the seriously ill.

Right to Life urges the government to cease the electoral rort that undermines the voting process and violates our democracy.

Ken Orr
Spokesperson,
Right to Life.

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