Gordon Copeland, Larry Baldock, Marc Alexander and Murray Smith welcome to join us, says Direct Democracy Party.
“The news that United Future MP Gordon Copeland has decided to quit United Future over the passing of anti-smacking bill
in Parliament is a sound example of principles before politics” says Direct Democracy Party leader, Kelvyn Alp.
“What is somewhat surprising is that Mr Copeland has decided to resurrect the Future New Zealand Party, and have as a
bottom line the repeal of the anti smacking bill, in an apparent appeal to the Christian constituency. However, the 80%
of people who opposed this legislation were people across the faith spectrum, and many were voters who professed no
religious faith whatsoever”.
“The Direct Democracy Party is a broad-based political party, and would thus like to extend a formal invitation to Mr
Copeland and his associates to join with the Direct Democracy Party in championing our “7 steps towards Direct Democracy
Charter”, namely:
1 - The establishment of a New Zealand Constitution.
2 - The introduction of “Binding Citizen Initiated Referendum”.
3 – An overhaul of the taxation system, ensuring a fair and equitable taxation Policy for all citizens.
4 - A review of the purpose of MMP, to determine whether the role of coalition and / or confidence and supply
arrangements are in conflict with the actual representative intent of an MMP Electoral system.
5 - A Royal Commission of Enquiry into New Zealand Government Department dysfunction and corruption, with appropriate
terms of reference.
6 - Fortified crime legislation and enforcement, including full sentence served, abolishment of Parole, and
punishment-focussed incarceration, coupled with “Real Rehabilitation”.
7 - Repeal of the Anti-Smacking legislation, and a return to the original Section 59 legislation under the 1961 Crimes
Act.
The Christian constituency is indeed an important focus group for politics; however we at Direct Democracy believe that
this should not be at the expense of potential or perceived exclusion of other focus groups as well” says Mr Alp.
ENDS