John Key
The National Party has released its electoral law policy,
confirming it would hold a binding referendum on MMP no later
than 2011.
It says it would also repeal the Electoral Finance Act, which
it has been complaining about since the legislation was
passed last December.
The party has previously announced its intention to hold a
referendum on MMP.
"New Zealanders have had to wait long enough for a chance to
have their say on MMP," National's leader, John Key, said
today.
"The referendum will give people a choice between retaining
MMP without any further consideration or having a further
vote on MMP alongside another electoral system or systems."
Deputy leader Bill English said all New Zealanders with an
interest in free speech would welcome confirmation that a
National-led government would repeal the Electoral Finance
Act.
"This is a self-serving law, passed in haste and designed to
silence Labour's critics in election year," he said.
"National will end the farce."
Mr English said National would move to repeal the Act
immediately after the election, but would retain the
provisions around the transparency of donations.
He said the old sections from the Electoral Act 1993 would be
reinstated and the Electoral Finance Act sections relating to
donations would be inserted.
Mr English said National concluded long ago that there needed
to be more transparency around donations.
"We were genuinely surprised when Labour failed to put in any
controls around donations when the law was initially
drafted," he said.
