Parliament Tied Over Depleted Uranium Ban

A tied vote on a bill, an unusual event in Parliament, took place on Wednesday night

The Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill in the name of Phil Twyford was tied 60 – 60 and as a result failed to pass its first reading stage.

The result came about as National and ACT opposed the Bill and the Maori Party only had two votes to cast in favour.

The Bill was intended to “ban the possession, use, sale, manufacture, testing and transit of uranium in all conventional munitions and armour within New Zealand and by agents of the New Zealand government”.

John Hayes said National would not support the bill as it would make New Zealand troop criminals if they served overseas as fighting soldiers or peacekeepers when they operated with other countries that did use depleted uranium.

Phil Goff said Hayes was putting up a straw man argument and the bill would not have that effect.

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