Mauri Pacific Leader Hon Tau Henare said his party would move to put in legislation future election dates.

"It's clear neither Labour or National are keen on moving on this issue so we'll look for a consensus among like-minded thinking parties that make up the next parliament to push this issue," he said.

"They're a hard case these two; they get all principled about the politics of the political system, but when something like this makes sense they sit on their political backsides content to do nothing."

Mr Henare said the governing party did hold a strategic advantage and Mauri Pacific wanted to ensure that everyone was on a level playing field.

"The Nats could've gone either way at the weekend, but one thing is for sure, they're ready, now, to go to an election.

"As has been pointed out there's plenty of examples overseas where jurisdictions have fixed terms; hell! In the United States they know 20 years in advance what the dates are going to be," said Mr Henare.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>