John Key MP
National Party Leader

19 December 2007

Labour fails to consult National again

National Party Leader John Key says that yet again Labour has failed to consult National on its attempts to lock down a partial review of ‘outstanding electoral issues’.

“The Greens and Labour have done a deal. Clearly, Helen Clark does not understand the meaning of ‘bipartisan support’ for election law changes. The Prime Minister has learned nothing from the debacle over the Electoral Finance Act and has again failed to consult the major opposition party.

“Labour broke conventions ramming this law through, and now they’re breaking them again as part of a further exercise in self-preservation.”

Mr Key notes that Annette King’s statement makes it clear that Labour is not considering fundamental changes to the Electoral Finance Act, rather ‘outstanding electoral issues’.

“This is a stalking horse for the state funding of political parties, engineered by the Greens and Labour. They’ve made it clear that’s what they want and this is how they plan to achieve it.”

Mr Key says National remains committed to repealing the self-serving Electoral Finance Act and it will not support state-funded election campaigns.

“Labour simply doesn’t understand that consultation means talking to all other parties, not just its allies.

“The decision to appoint an independent review panel is sound in principle and was something that National had been advocating. But Labour’s not signalling a wide-ranging review to fix the law at all – just more patch-ups.

“Labour has bungled this process from start to finish. The review should have come first – not be a bolt-on after-thought that’s part of a cynical, face-saving, damage control exercise.

“Labour has deliberately screwed the electoral scrum in an attempt to get Helen Clark one more term in office, and nothing the Government does now can change that fact.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media