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MARION VAN DIJK / STUFF
Nick Smith: "They said it this way :" No. Winston won "
Nick Smith, of National, said the Labor MPs of a special committee to consider the Waka Jumping bill refused to consider amendments because Winston Peters wanted this bill not amended
.
The Electoral Amendment Bill would allow party leaders to expel members of their party from Parliament, if they could obtain the approval of two-thirds of their caucus . The list of deputies would be definitively expelled and replaced by the next person on the list while the electoral deputies would be able to participate in the by-elections.
The special justice committee was to report on the controversial bill on Monday. The committee is also divided between the national members and the labor members, and it should vote by a majority to send the bill back to the House with a report.
Therefore, the bill will be returned to the House without any recommendation from the Chairman of the Special Committee, Raymond Huo, said that Smith's behavior had disrupted the committee "title =" "src =" https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/o/w/4/h/h/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620×349.1r1870.png/1532951359695.jpg "class =" photoborder "/>
ABIGAIL DOUGHERTY / STUFF
Committee Chair Raymond Huo said Smith's behavior disrupted the committee
Members of Parliament refused to consider amendments to the bill because their coalition agreement with NZ First required the bill to be passed without amendment
"The Labor members of the committee made it clear that they were under direction in the agreement with Winston." bill is not amended, "Smith says.
" They said exactly like this: "No. Winston will not accept that."
Usually, a special committee will make recommendations on [19659017] NZ First got the bill in its coalition agreement with the Labor Party.
Raymond Huo, Labor MP and Committee Chair, said Smith "was throwing out toys" and could have put comments like this in a "If we could agree to deliberate on the draft report … it could make a recommendation to say that this could be in his narrative report, "said Huo.
] "His behavior caused direct disruption of the work of the committee."
Huo said that Smith tried to cast a vote of no confidence in the Justice Department officials working with the select committee.
Smith did not dispute He argued that officials were not willing to give their opinion on the bill "except to say that the government's policy was to move the bill forward. Unchanged. "
Blocked a" Factual Report "It is Labor's decision to block a factual report on what happened around the Bill of Rights to be included in the report of the select committee that led to the committee's inability Smith stated
that he dismissed the motions asking Attorney General David Parker or officials of the Charter of Rights team from the Department of Justice to appear before the committee
. ] The committee had asked – not required – that the Justice Department officials come, but they had written to say that they had nothing to add.
"We wanted the report to state that the committee had unanimously asked the officials before the committee to come and they refused to come," Smith said.
Huo said that the committee had accepted the response of the officials that they had nothing to add to their submission. from the committee's point of view, all questions and answers were in fourth place. "
Huo said that in retaining the report Smith was dropping his party and the bidders whose voices would now be lost.
" He did not leave his party but also the general public, including the bidders, "said Huo.
" The justice committee is a very busy committee. We enjoyed a high level of collegiality, until, frankly, the arrival of Nick Smith, "said Huo.
" He should be the father of the House rather as the scourge of the Special Committee. "
MPs announced last week that they would vote reluctantly for the bill despite the party's policy that opposed it, because their agreement of trust and supply with Labor forced them to do so
