Baldock hoping for petition approval in time for March for Democracy.

The Kiwi Party
Press Release
16 November, 2009

Organiser of the anti-smacking referendum Larry Baldock is hoping the Clerk of the House of Representatives may approve the new CIR petition in time for those attending the March for Democracy in Auckland this Saturday to be able to take a copy home with them.

“Thirteen submissions were received on the proposed question, “should Citizens Initiated Referenda seeking to repeal or amend a law be binding?” Based on these I anticipate some amendments to be made to the question for clarification while maintaining its primary intent,” said Mr Baldock.

However the advice given by the Legislation Advisory Committee can only be described as a rushed and badly researched attempt to deny any citizen’s democratic right to seek the will of the people of New Zealand in a referendum.

President of the committee Sir Geoffrey Palmer advised the Clerk to that “It is the view of the Legislation Advisory Committee that the question that is proposed to be put is not one that is contemplated by the 1993 Act itself.”

Yet in speaking on the First reading debate of the CIR Bill, the Hon Murray McCully said, “To those who want to step immediately to binding referenda, I say that they will have their opportunity when the legislation is in force to express that view by the mechanism that the bill will provide. In other words, those who wish to promote that referenda shall be binding will be able to initiate a non-binding referendum to demonstrate public sympathy for their view. I commend that course to them.”

“For this reason I have today written to the Minister today to ask him for his full support and patronage on the next petition,” said Mr Baldock.

Several of the members of parliament speaking in the debate made reference to issue of binding referenda.

Sir Douglas Graham, the minister at the time in charge of the bill, actually said, ”the intention is to review the use of citizens-initiated referenda after a period of 5 years, and it may well be then appropriate to consider a change to the law to make referenda binding at that time.”

Despite all this, Sir Geoffrey concludes the LAC advice to the Clerk with the statement, “The question that is proposed, in all its ambiguities and circularity, is not in our view compatible with the legislation under which it is proposed to be conducted.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Mr Baldock.

ENDS

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