Dark ages
OPINION: Before we all let The Green Party have at it with their 'bold' emissions reduction plan, the Hound thought it wise to run the numbers through the old Casio.
Oh, and change the 5% party vote MMP threshold to 4% without a public referendum — just a simple majority in Parliament will do (we nearly forgot about that bit buried in the fine print).
With the Greens clinging to 5% in recent polls and being the third leg of the coalition, and NZ First at about 3%, it’s no surprise the Greens want to move the goalposts before the next election.
Gharaman has been called out on this undemocratic move by political commentators such as PR man Matthew Hooton, and others, but her response has been flippant, to say the least. She says her real target is overseas donations, and anyway the Electoral Commission said dropping the MMP threshold to 4% was worth doing. As Hooton rightly says, “parliamentarians with integrity should only change how Parliament is elected by a 75% super-majority or referendum”.
