Govt hides advice on whether law breaches BORA

new-zealand-national-party

Tue Jul 03 2018 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Govt hides advice on whether law breaches BORA

Tuesday, 3 July 2018, 4:30 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Nick Smith - Electoral Law

3 July 2018

Attorney General David Parker’s refusal today to release advice on whether the Government’s Electoral Law changes comply with the Bill of Rights Act is an affront to this ‘open government’, National’s Electoral Law spokesperson Nick Smith says.

“The Government is attempting to hide the independent legal advice on whether the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill changes comply with the Bill of Rights, from the Justice Select committee considering the Bill.

“Through this Bill the Government, led by Justice Minister Andrew Little, is planning to break 330 years of parliamentary history where voters alone had the power to choose and remove their MPs, by giving Party Leaders this power.

“New Zealanders should smell a rat. Twenty constitutional law experts from five universities have publicly stated these electoral changes breach the Bill of Rights. The Minister has admitted he cannot name a single expert who agrees with the Government.

“David Parker himself has admitted in the past that this Bill will reduce a member’s right to freedom of expression, and ‘have a chilling effect on the expression of dissenting views by MPs.’ The public expects elected members to advocate strongly without fear of being punished by their Leaders for expressing different views.

“This Bill is not only at odds with the constitutional law experts, the Human Rights Commission, the Law Society and the Bill of Rights, but also with the Parliamentary Privilege Act and MPs’ right to free speech in Parliament.

“Let’s call this Bill for what it is – a constitutionally dangerous tool to prop up this fragile coalition Government by giving obscene powers to the Leader of a Party.”

ends

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