MMP referendum debate welcomed

Campaign for MMP is looking forward to putting forward the case for MMP during this year’s referendum debate.

Justice Minister Simon Power has today announced the beginning of the official public information campaign on the MMP referendum and general election, being run by the Electoral Commission.

“MMP is the fairest system, where everybody's vote counts equally, no matter where you live,” said Sandra Grey, Campaign for MMP spokesperson.

“Under other systems on the ballot, such as Supplementary Member and First Past the Post, we could see the votes of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders being wasted.”

“The National Party supporter in a safe Labour area saw their votes totally wasted under First Past the Post. And the same applied for Labour supporters in National areas."

“Their votes didn’t contribute to the make-up of Parliament at all, and nor did supporters of third parties.”

“This unacceptable situation would continue under Supplementary Member, where three quarters of the seats would be elected under the old FPP system New Zealanders got rid of in 1993.”

Sandra Grey said that an important aspect of the education campaign will be letting voters know how to achieve a modified MMP, if that's what they want.

“The best way to make MMP even better is to vote for it in 2011, as this will trigger an independent review.”

“As Simon Power has noted, this means that people who favour proportional representation, but want to modify aspects of MMP, can avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

Sandra Grey said Campaign for MMP was mobilising public support in the lead up to this year’s referendum, with action groups established in a number of parts of the country.

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