Woolerton R Doug: Electoral Finance Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Woolerton R Doug: Electoral Finance Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:644;Page:13465] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 I do not like to say this with my leader in the Chamber but I talked to John Boscawen—Rodney’s mate—this morning. We were talking about this bill. He called me to ask whether there was any chance New Zealand First would change its stance on it. He has never called me before. He has never talked to me right through the last 5 months but he called me this morning. National Party members are busy saying that people are doing things at the last minute. I asked him what the problem was and he said to me that he did not like the way this bill was being done behind closed doors. I said: “Excuse me?”. He said: “You’re doing this thing behind closed doors.” I said: “How so? There were 600 submissions to a public select committee and over 100 were heard verbally at a public select committee meeting.” They say there were 5000 people—and I do not believe that—in Auckland at a meeting— 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: The police said that. 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: The police said that did they? I do not believe that figure but the police said it so there you go. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: You weren’t there! 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: No I was not there. I do not march in the street; I come to this place and speak my mind here. I do not march up the street like those other guys do. 
John Boscawen was telling me that this legislation was being done behind closed doors. I said to him: “Mate they would be the biggest closed doors I have ever seen in my life.” This legislation is not being done behind closed doors. There has never been a bill that I have seen before this House that has come under so much public scrutiny and so much scrutiny within this Parliament as this one. So it is absolutely rubbish to say it is being done behind closed doors. 
Do members know what he then said to me? He said: “Oh but there are some amendments coming up today that I do not know about.” Well one could have said to him: “Well excuse me who the hell are you?”. But I did not do that. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Arrogance from New Zealand First! 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: No there is no arrogance involved in this—no arrogance whatsoever. If that member talked to me he would soon find that out but because he does not know me he would not have a clue. But the fact is— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: Yes I am coming back to Part 1 Mr Chairman. I asked him what was behind closed doors and he said: “The changes the SOPs coming up today.” I said that that always happens. There is a dotting of i’s and crossing of t’s and the changing of mistakes. This guy does not know about parliamentary democracy. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: What’s his name? 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: It is John Boscawen. He does not know about politics and he does not know about parliamentary democracy. He has been put up to the job by people on the opposite side of the Chamber—that is what the deal is. He spent half of that conversation telling me how he made his money. I said: “Good luck to you. I hope you go on and make a hell of a lot more.” The other thing I said was that this legislation does not disbar the Brethren from involving themselves in election campaigns. It does not disbar them at all but at least it makes sure that we know who is doing the job out there. Nor does it stop private citizens at all from involving themselves in elections but members would never know that from reading the  
New Zealand Herald.  
If the  
New Zealand Herald  
was going to do things straight would it not say that it is time for these third parties which are lobby groups—not individuals—called third parties when they spend second only to the two big parties in election time to come under the Electoral Act and the electoral law of this country? We on this side of the Chamber say “Yes it is.” It is time we had some law surrounding the election process in this country that is actually meaningful and does not let a party run two campaigns—one by another third party or lobby group and the other by the proper party itself which is called the National Party. Those days are over. That method did not elect them it did not work at the last election and it is not going to work in the future because it had to stop. The people who made that happen who brought this bill about were the people who made the mistakes in the National Party. By and large the public should know this—[ 
Interruption 
] No no the public should know this. They were not people like David Bennett who is a backbencher; it was the people at headquarters who did this.