Extension of Submission Timeframe for Foreshore Bill Requested due to Parliamentary Website Malfunction

The Coastal Coalition has contacted the Prime Minister and the Attorney General this morning to urgently request a one-week extension for the timeframe for submissions to the Marine and Coastal Area Bill due to the difficulties that the public are having with the Parliamentary website on-line submission form.

Submissions to the Bill are meant to close at midnight tonight but hundreds of people are contacting the Coastal Coalition because they are unable to get their submission through, Coastal Coalition spokesman Dr Muriel said today.

“The Select Committee staff have been aware of the problem for weeks now.

“It is totally unacceptable that in this day and age, when people rely on technology to participate in the democratic process, that Parliament cannot have in place a user-friendly system that allows interested people to make their submissions easily.

“In addition, the Select Committee email system is also malfunctioning, which means that people who had emailed their submission and thought it had been received might be unaware that it has been rejected.

“This is a totally unacceptable state of affairs all around.

“Full details on how people can make a submission are available on our Coastal Coalition website at www.CoastalCoalition.co.nz

“An extension of time should be granted so that those people who want to have their say are able to do so”, Dr Newman said.

ENDS

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