Tolley Anne: Electoral Finance Bill — In Committee 
Tolley Anne: Electoral Finance Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:644;Page:13624] 
ANNE TOLLEY (National—East Coast) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Chairman. I would like to speak to Supplementary Order Paper 170 presented by the Green member Metiria Turei who was a member of the Justice and Electoral Committee. Yesterday she sent me an email in my capacity as the senior whip for the National Party. I think she made much in her speech of the fact that it had taken me 56 minutes to send her a one-word reply of “No”—that we would not support that amendment. Well I would actually like to let that member know and the Committee that in fact it took much less than that. I did not see the email for 55½ minutes so it really took me only 30 seconds to consult and decide that we would not support that amendment. Members might ask why. 
Well I am prepared to tell the Committee why the National Party will not support that Supplementary Order Paper. I refer to a letter that the select committee received from the Chief Human Rights Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan. I would just like to read what she said in point 30: “Many of the substantial concerns of submitters are likely to be addressed in redrafting.” So this was during the select committee process. We had heard submissions we had had some discussion about some changes and a whole lot of issues had been raised by various members of the select committee and some changes had been suggested. She said: “The committee now faces the challenge of how the rationale for recommended changes and the opportunity for further improvement is incorporated into its processes. The commission considers that public concerns would be best addressed by a further round of public consultation on a redrafted version of the bill.” That is the position of the National Party. We argued that matter during the select committee and I stand in the Committee to reply to the Green member in relation to her Supplementary Order Paper that that is not the way to address the public having an opportunity to have a say on this bill. 
The Human Rights Commissioner has said the commission believes that having substantially redrafted that bill it should go back for public debate. It should go back for another round of submissions. During the select committee hearing the Green member was loud and vociferous in denying that opportunity to the public of New Zealand. For her then to come to the Committee with a Supplementary Order Paper that sets up a quasi-public process of redebating this bill 2 months after it comes into effect is an absolutely calculated act to manipulate the process— 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Gerrymandering 
ANNE TOLLEY 
: Absolutely and the word has been used here earlier tonight by someone trying to make fun of one of the members on this side. But I would say that Supplementary Order Paper 170 represents gerrymandering of the public democratic system more than anything else I have heard from that member. 
I thank you Mr Chairperson for the opportunity to reply to the Green member and I would just like to reiterate that it is the National Party’s position that we follow the recommendation of the Human Rights Commission which is to put this bill out for another round of public submissions. It is not too late for the Committee to decide to do that. 
We can make sure that the public have the opportunity to have another say on a bill that is almost entirely different from what it was when over 600 members of the public made submissions on it. It is an entirely different bill. The most reasonable thing that this Committee could do at this time of the year would be to send this bill back out for another round of public submissions and stick with the Auditor-General’s rules. They are quite clear. We all understand them this time round. We could quite easily go through the 2008 election under those rules that have been so very clearly spelt out in this House and through the Speaker’s’ directions for all parties. 
Thank you Mr Chairperson for the opportunity to reply to the Greens member. The National Party’s position is that we do not support the Supplementary Order Paper from the Greens. We support the Human Rights Commission in relation to sending this out for a further round of public submissions. We support democracy.