Ryall Tony: Electoral Matters Bill — In Committee 
Ryall Tony: Electoral Matters Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:622;Page:17261] 
Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay Of Plenty) 
: 
 I will pick up on the point that Dr Wayne Mapp made because I think it is pivotal to what this legislation is about. Members may recall that Mr Duynhoven was discovered to have pledged allegiance to another State and to have— 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: That also is wrong and incorrect. The member will withdraw it. 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Well frankly after Mr Duynhoven applied for a Dutch passport— 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Wrong too! 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: —and had it presented to him with his photo in the paper that was when this Parliament became aware of the fact. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Wrong too! 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Mr Duynhoven says: “Wrong too! Wrong too!”. It sounds as though there was no problem whatsoever. If there was no problem whatsoever why did we have special legislation? As I have said in this Chamber before Mr Duynhoven somehow got himself into a position whereby Parliament had to pass special legislation. That was because he breached a provision of the Electoral Act that states that if one puts oneself under the care and protection of another sovereign one breaches that Act. If members receive a travel document that means they have some sort of allegiance to a foreign power then that is a breach of the Act. The matter was given to the Speaker to consider and he considered and considered it. Then lo and behold while the Speaker was considering it the Government said it would introduce rushed special legislation in order to clarify the breach of the law that was committed by Mr Duynhoven. 
My assessment of what happened is that the Dutch Government removed citizenship from foreign nationals and then decided to reinstitute it. Mr Duynhoven applied for a passport. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Wrong! 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: What did he apply for then? 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Nothing except confirmation. 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: He applied for confirmation of his passport. What happened then was that that the Prime Minister said that that was a slight technicality. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: You’re a disgrace to Parliament. 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I am a disgrace to Parliament? I have never had to have special legislation passed in order to guarantee my place in this Parliament. If Mr Duynhoven enjoyed the support of the people of New Plymouth why did he not go to the people? Why did he not put his mandate and his breach of the Act before the people of New Plymouth? I will tell the Committee why he did not. The Prime Minister was running scared of the people of New Plymouth on the seabed and foreshore issue so she said that the matter was of no consequence. She said the fact that Mr Duynhoven had applied for a passport was of no consequence whatsoever and the Government would pass a law to stop it from breaching the Act. 
This bill has no impact whatsoever on Mr Duynhoven’s breach of the Act because it makes it clear that if a member of Parliament applies for a passport or travel document then that is a breach of the Act. Is that not what the special legislation for Mr Duynhoven validated? It was to validate not only his breach but everybody else's breach of the Act by virtue of renewing or applying for a foreign passport. It is clear that the Prime Minister has admitted with this legislation that the breach that Mr Duynhoven made was untenable. She simply has not changed the rules. If it was just a trivial legal technicality then the Prime Minister would have changed the rules. She has not done so but has in fact confirmed the law in respect of Mr Duynhoven. That means that if Mr Duynhoven breached the law again today in the way that he breached it previously the Speaker would have to declare his seat vacant. I am sure that the Speaker could consider and consider the issue and then we would have more rushed legislation. But the fact is that the Duynhoven breach of the Electoral Act remains as a stain on this Parliament because special legislation had to be passed in order to let that member keep his seat. That is a serious matter.