Smith: Bemused Greens baffle Parliament
The Green Party last night demonstrated to Parliament what a confused bunch they are, says United Future MP Murray
Smith.
"This confusion has been apparent in the House for some time," Mr Smith said. "Parliament has frequently observed the
Greens being uncertain as to how they are voting on issues. Even, on occasions, asking for time to consult each other
whilst the voting process is underway
"And they easily lead the statistics for the number of times a party has abstained from voting on issues, obviously
because they either haven't been able to make a decision or haven't been able to agree amongst themselves.
"Furthermore," Mr Smith continued "the procedural motions, which admittedly can get quite complex, regularly bamboozle
many of their MPs and have resulted in their voting contrary to their own positions.
"But last night's speech by Rod Donald on the provisions in the Local Government Bill for separate Maori wards really
took the cake.
"Having spent his whole speech proving statistically and very convincingly that, based on current Maori representation,
the institution of Maori wards would halve the representation of Maori on local authorities, and having waxed lyrically
at the huge disadvantage this would cause Maori, Mr Donald then announced to an incredulous House that the Greens would
be supporting the provisions in the Bill for Maori wards !!
“The only justification he could find to try to explain this bizarre stance was that the Greens would rather fight
against Maori wards on a case by case basis with each local authority than stop them being implemented by the Government
at the outset.
"This position defies any logical analysis," Mr Smith said "and one has to wonder to what extent we are seeing evidence
of the well-documented mental confusion arising from even limited use of cannabis. When it comes to the Greens, logic is
certainly in short supply."