Hon Bill English MP
National Party Leader

24 July 2003

Staggering response to 'beaches for all' petition

The National Party is stunned by the response to its http://www.beachesforall.co.nz website since it was launched three days ago.

"More than 1,000 people a day have been signing our petition which calls for the Government to confirm exclusive Crown ownership of the beaches and seabed," says National Party Leader Bill English.

"There have been more than 15,000 hits on the website and the Party has received hundreds of e-mails from frustrated New Zealanders, fed up with the Government's secret negotiations.

"About 95% of the e-mails are firmly supporting the National Party proposition that there should be no deals and the beaches belong to everyone," Mr English says.

"The depth of feeling is clear when you see some of the thoughtful comments that New Zealanders are making.

"While some of the messages are provocative, most are common-sense remarks," Mr English says.

"The response to the petition has been staggering, with someone signing up every few seconds.

"In a little more than two hours this morning more than 1,500 Kiwis added their names to the list," he says.

"The petition is hosted by www.petitiononline.com which is the largest online petition site on the Internet.

"Of the 7,000 petitions hosted on that site, our Beaches for All petition is the second biggest in the world in terms of daily signups.

"The National Party is determined to make sure the Labour Government listens to the majority on this crucial issue," Mr English says.

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