12 February 2007

Standards of behaviour in election year

Assistant Speaker and Manukau East MP, Ross Robertson, has called on his colleagues to take on board the messages in the new Code of Conduct recently announced for the New Zealand Police. At the centre of this Code is that all employees of New Zealand Police will work to the highest ethical standard.

“Parliamentarians should take the lead as examples of good behaviour and high ethical standards, for leadership is by example,” he said.

“If it is good enough for our police force to establish a Code of Conduct for their officers, it should not be hard for us as parliamentarians to do the same.

“The Police code says that the police service is often judged by the way its employees represent it and it is therefore necessary to maintain a high standard of personal and professional conduct.

“I believe the same goes for Members of Parliament,” he said.

“I have been proposing a code of conduct and a code of ethics for MPs for some years now. We know this year will be difficult as the election campaign heats up, so having a code of ethics would ensure the public of New Zealand are treated to a debate they can hear and understand, rather than the unseemly bear pit that the debating chamber can sometimes descend into.

ENDS

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