Blue Jackie: Appropriation (Parliamentary Expenditure Validation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Third Reading 
Blue Jackie: Appropriation (Parliamentary Expenditure Validation) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5871] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I rise to speak to Part 2 “Validation of expenditure and interim meaning of ‘funding entitlements for parliamentary purposes’ ”. In particular I would like to comment on a number of amendments I have to this part especially to paragraph (b) of clause 5. There are four Acts that I would like to add to the list of Acts in that paragraph. They are the Income Tax Act 2004 the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991 the Public Records Act 2005 and the Declaratory Judgments Act 1908. In addition I have an amendment to subclause 7(4) where I would like to omit the expression “31 December 2007” and substitute the expression “20 April 2007”. I would also like to spend some time on clause 7(4). 
But before I talk about that I want to focus on subclause (2) of clause 7 which describes exactly what “electioneering” means. It is defined in that subclause which really says that if this shoddy shaky shabby Government collapses and there is a snap election then the Labour pledge card would be paid for by public funds. That is absolutely appalling! That is why my amendment proposes to bring the date forward by 6 months. It is to limit the time that this shabby shaky shoddy Government if it does call a snap election could use the pledge card and pay for it out of public funds. I tell members quite frankly that that has been termed currently a “corrupt practice”. But if this bill is passed it clearly will not be a corrupt practice; it will be part of electioneering and New Zealand will be going backwards. I certainly hope that my amendment will get the support of the Committee. 
I also support the amendments to this part in the names of Chris Finlayson and Wayne Mapp. There is an unsung hero in all of this shabby shoddy shaky mess the Government has caused and that is Bernard Darnton from the Libertarianz. He has a lawsuit against this shabby shaky shoddy Government—Helen Clark and her caucus. If this bill is passed in its current form it will mean that Bernard Darnton’s lawsuit will certainly not proceed. He issued a press statement yesterday in which he basically said that the Government’s changing the law to escape charges against it was something he would expect from a Third World dictatorship and that sadly New Zealand has no constitutional protections to prevent that type of abuse by a Government that is quite literally out of control. 
I could not agree more. We have a banana republic. It is a Mugabe-type Government. This Government is trying to ram through legislation without allowing public comment and without having a select committee process. One would think that maybe the public is not interested but believe me the public is very interested in what is happening. People will not forget. They will have long memories about this shabby shaky shoddy Government and what it is trying to ram through this Parliament under urgency to pass a law to validate its overspending in the election campaign. It is doing so because Labour members are self-interested cynical and out for everything they can get. 
David Bennett 
: They’re corrupt. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: Exactly. The public interest in this case is very high and when 81 percent of the public said “Pay it back.” and when 75 percent of Labour supporters said “Pay it back.” Labour was finally shamed into saying that it would pay it back. But there is a catch. We do not know when it will pay it back or indeed if it will ever pay it back. This bill in its current form gives no time line. It gives no guarantee that any party that has outstanding money will pay its money back. Helen Clark talked about a target. What does a target mean? It is a pretty nebulous term and there is no guarantee that any money will be paid back. We know that Labour MPs are having to write personal cheques but when will we see the colour of their money? When will taxpayers be refunded? Even New Zealand First is trying to duck and dive. It is in cahoots with this shoddy shaky shabby Government. 
Darren Hughes 
: Read it again. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: I say to Darren Hughes the marginal member from the marginal seat of Otaki that I do not have to. Mr Hughes will not be here in 2008 because my colleague Nathan Guy—