Friday, August 13, 2004

the next lie from the Government


"we can assure these submitters that the views expressed in their submission will be taken into consideration."

Does this lie apply to the Foreshore and Seabed legislation or all future bills that have a large number of select committee submissions?

The Government is not only ignoring submissions it doesn't like, and issuing select committee reports that don't reflect public submissions, now it is saying they are going to take note of submissions, without actually doing so.

Furthermore it limits oral submissions to the select committee to 350. Why? So that select committee members only have to take note of 350 submissions.The other 3650 written submissions, if read, can be disgarded as there will be no need to ask questions of the submitter at an oral hearing.

What's the bet the ones chosen - or vetted - include the minority of submitters that support the legislation?

This is not post - MMP democracy. This is Government manipulation of a democratic process that has gutted the decmocracy in that process even further.

The message: By all means do submissions to a select committee, but if you want to do an oral presentation, we`ll limit it to 20 minutes and we will choose who we want to hear from.

Yet the same select committee will hear at least three oral submissions on the civil union bill by at least two separate people, each representing three different organisations - all of whom support the government line and will say the same thing at each hearing.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Helengrad

Do you really expect a stalinist to be democratic?

get real, look at the abortion of minor kids the property rights if you live together as just two examples of a arrogent attitude "we know better" .
you can't take responsibility.

welcome to reel life under a dictator who has to say what the spin people say.