Thursday, August 9 2001
Richard Prebble Press Releases -- Governance & Constitution

ACT leader Richard Prebble says he's shocked that State Owned Enterprises Minister Mark Burton has rejected official advice that there were strong grounds for the Minister to seek Ross Armstrong's resignation as chairman of NZ Post.

"I've received a leaked document that clearly states the NZ Post chairman should have sought approval from the shareholding Ministers and his board before issuing court proceedings against an MP," Mr Prebble said.

"The officials state that there are serious constitutional issues involved. They went further and advised the Minister that he had power to dismiss Ross Armstrong under section 156 of the Companies Act.

"I asked the Minister in Parliament why he hadn't followed the advice and he was unable to give a reason.

"This is a case where the Minister should have stood up for the constitutional principle that MPs have not only the right but a duty to scrutinise government activities," Mr Prebble said.

ENDS

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

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Gordon Campbell: On The New Government’s Policies Of Yesteryear

Winston Peters is routinely described as the kingmaker who decides whether the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded, but equally important role as the scapegoat who can be blamed for killing taxes that his senior partners never much wanted in the first place. Neither Ardern nor Robertson for example, really wanted a capital gains tax, for fear of Labour copping the “tax and spend“ label they ended up being saddled with anyway. Usefully though, they could tell the party faithful it was wicked old Winston who killed the CGT. More