Woolerton R Doug: Electoral (Reduction in Number of  Members of Parliament) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Woolerton R Doug: Electoral (Reduction in Number of  Members of Parliament) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1843] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 Naturally I want to speak in favour of the bill. Although we accept the arguments made by Peter Dunne we nevertheless believe that Parliament can operate perfectly well with 100 members and we see no reason why that should not happen almost immediately. This bill is the result of a referendum in which the public of New Zealand spoke overwhelmingly in favour of a reduction in the number of MPs and we are following through on that. If you like it could be described as our listening to the people. At the very least we believe that this bill should be sent to the Justice and Electoral Committee so that it can be openly debated and people can make submissions upon it. They can bring their arguments to the table and we can hear what they have to say. As Mr Rodney Hide pointed out this is the Parliament of the people of New Zealand; it is not our Parliament. We are merely the people’s representatives. 
I know that other speakers have mentioned that there could be an overhang and I think it was Mr Worth who said that that could lead to increased instability. All I want to say to that comment is that we have an overhang now as far as that goes and there is no instability in the House as much as some people would try to make it appear to be so. We do not believe that just because there is an increased likelihood of an overhang that would necessarily lead to any sort of instability. 
We cannot let this chance go by without talking about the benefits MMP has brought at least to our mind to the Parliament of New Zealand. We have far wider representation now under the MMP system. We believe that would continue with 100 members and we believe it is important that it continues. We have to speak also about the select committees. Other people have said that the select committees now under MMP are far stronger than they ever were and that is certainly true. I am told by visiting MPs and by people whom we come into contact with overseas that we are at the forefront of world practice as far as the use of the select committee process goes. Our select committees indeed do have real power. We do not accept that lowering the number of in this case list MPs will change that substantially. Again the practice at this time is that not all select committees have a proper representation of the parties on them because of the number of votes that are achieved by the two biggest parties. 
It is not as though we want to review every detail of the MMP system. This is a clearly set out bill for one purpose and one purpose only. It responds to a public call for fewer MPs in Parliament and that is exactly what the bill provides for. We believe that referring it to the Justice and Electoral Committee will provide a great chance for that committee to discuss the wider issues regarding the electoral system but we believe that it would be absolutely wrong and misleading in fact for those issues to be included in this bill. There is no question that they will be debated as part of the discussions on this bill and we think it is right that that should be so. 
Obviously we are seeking support for this bill. We hope some of the parties that currently oppose it will see the wisdom of our arguments and change their minds.