Parliamentary urgency caused by shambolic management
9 December 2010 Media Statement
Parliamentary urgency caused by shambolic management
Incompetent management by the National Government has reduced Parliament to an end-of-year shambles, says Labour's Shadow Leader of the House Darren Hughes.
"It's not only a case of bad management, but bad faith as well," Darren Hughes said.
"Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee is showing bad faith toward Labour, which co-operated with the Government earlier in the year so that a last-minute legislative rush could be avoided.
"More importantly, however, he's showing bad faith toward the public because this insane rush is no way to pass legislation," Darren Hughes said.
"In Parliament today he piously and hypocritically claimed that as MPs were about to get a few weeks off, they should do a few days of hard yakker before they left.
"That's not the point," Darren Hughes said. "The point is New Zealanders would rather see legislation passed sensibly and with due consideration, not in a rush like this.
"Gerry Brownlee wants to pass legislation through 18 stages under urgency, including the first reading of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Amendment Bill, which National told us earlier would happen in normal time, not in urgency.
"It's outrageous that the first reading of a Bill like this should be treated this way.
"The irony is that two electoral bills --- the Electoral (Finance Reform and Advance Voting) Amendment Bill and the Electoral Referendum Bill --- which Labour agreed should be passed before Christmas are not included in the urgency motion.
"National's management is shambolic."
ENDS