Hon Jim Anderton

Member of Parliament for Wigram
Progressive Leader

11 September 2009
Media Statement

New Bill designed to stop MPs standing for election when they are already elected

Jim Anderton has drafted a Bill designed to stop current members of parliament from standing for election to parliament in a by-election.

The Bill will be placed in the Member’s Ballot. The next ballot for Member’s Bills is expected to be drawn next Thursday.

“It’s a nonsense that people can stand for election to parliament when they’ve already members of parliament,” says Member of Parliament for Wigram and Progressive leader, Jim Anderton

“What would rate-payers think if a member of a city council stood in a by-election to become a city councillor?”

In this year’s Mt Albert by-election, three out of the four main candidates were already members of parliament. Only the Labour Party candidate, David Shearer was not already an MP. Mr Shearer went on to win the by-election.

“There should be a rule that if you want to stand in a by-election, you first resign your seat in parliament.

“It’s not acceptable that M.Ps like Russell Norman for the Green Party, Melissa Lee for National, and John Boscawan for the Act Party used tax-payers money to run a campaign to get elected to parliament when they had already been elected! In reality they were using their parliamentary salaries and resources to try and win the by-election and bring another MP into parliament on their party list.

“If the Bill is introduced, existing M.P.s will have to make a meaningful choice - if they really want to run for a seat, they will need to resign from parliament and contest it on the same basis as anyone else. If a list member is so keen to represent the people of a particular electorate, his/her party can open an office there.

“In a general election, an electorate MP has no insurance. They have to win enough votes in their electorate or for their party to return to Parliament. It is inconsistent at the very least, to have different rules in a by-election,” says Jim Anderton.

ENDS

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