Hague Kevin: Parliamentary Service Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hague Kevin: Parliamentary Service Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 03 August 2010. Volume:665;Page:12937. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
KEVIN HAGUE (Green) 
: 
 I will take a short call on behalf of my colleague Metiria Turei. Given the state of my voice I am thankful that it will be a short call. 
The Green Party will support the Parliamentary Service Amendment Bill being referred to the select committee because we believe that it is crucial that spending for parliamentary purposes be aligned with electoral finance law. Fortunately as the Leader of the House has said the Electoral Legislation Committee is currently considering electoral finance laws. The committee should be able to consider this legislation alongside electoral finance law legislation. 
I shall make a few remarks about the definition of “electioneering”. Overall the provisions are not controversial given that they cement and only slightly extend the existing rules. The extension primarily concerns the use of parliamentary spending in a referendum by adding to the definition of “electioneering” any communication that explicitly “supports voting for one of the answers to the precise question to be put to voters in an indicative referendum initiated under the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993; or supports voting for one of the responses to be put to electors in a government initiated referendum:”. “Electioneering” is also defined to mean “a referendum advertisement published during the regulated period in relation to a government initiated referendum.” Those are sensible extensions that are consistent and rational. 
Additionally the bill raises the issue of spending generally in referenda and election campaigns. Although it is quite right in the current context that parliamentary funds are not spent on electioneering it is also crucial—if we are to have fair elections and fair referenda—that there should be caps on spending by both political parties and third parties that campaign. This is a live issue that has been raised a great deal by submitters to the Electoral Legislation Committee. The Green Party supports the view that those caps are necessary because without such caps it is entirely possible that a referendum outcome or an election outcome could be based on deepness of pockets as opposed to arguments and logic. Elections and especially Government referenda must be contested in the fairest possible environment and caps on spending are essential to achieve that. 
I will make a few remarks on MP expenses. The provision in this bill that excludes participation in the official inter-parliamentary travel programme from funding entitlements for parliamentary purposes means that the regular members’ expenses disclosure will not include these costs. We think that is a sensible step to take. 
The Green Party is proud to have led Parliament in the disclosure of MPs’ expenses. We announced in June 2009 that Green Party MPs would regularly release our accommodation and travel spending details. As a result of our first release of that information in June 2009 the Prime Minister followed us with an announcement that he and the Speaker would work on a proposal to release that same information for all MPs in July. As a result of our setting the agenda on the process for transparency Parliament has followed and we are proud of that achievement. 
There is no doubt that more could and should be done in this area. We were very pleased with the  
Report of the Fourth Triennial Parliamentary Appropriations Review 
 released last month. The authors agreed with the Green Party that we need to have an independent review of all MPs’ and Ministers’ allowances so that we can construct a system for the use of public money that meets 21st century public expectations and builds confidence among the public in their elected representatives. Because we have not had such a review we are seeing the release of information and changes to the fringes of the system that are not fully transparent or principled. An independent review is an absolute necessity to prepare Parliament for future demands for transparency and accountability. Good government and healthy politics must be at the core of the institution of Parliament. The Green Party will stand firm to promote and protect them. Some small steps have been taken but more are necessary. The Green Party will continue to play a part in leading that change. Thank you.