MMP system still the people's choice, says Hunt

By JOHN ARMSTRONG political editor

Parliament's Speaker, Jonathan Hunt, has dismissed any likelihood of substantial change to the electoral system emerging from the forthcoming review of MMP.

He said yesterday that the 230 submissions to the special committee, which he is chairing, indicated most people accepted the notion of a mixed-member proportional system.

Mr Hunt said he wanted to pre-empt the committee, which is trying to make decisions by consensus and report to Parliament with recommendations early next year.

But his view that significant change is unlikely is reinforced by the submission to the committee made by the Labour Party. It appears to favour the retention of MMP, saying that system has yet to meet its "full democratic potential."

Mr Hunt said MMP had provided small parties with a degree of power. Labour and National would have to combine forces on the committee to vote MMP out.

"That would be an open invitation to all the smaller parties to say the two big parties are ganging up on everyone else. I don't think that is going to occur," he told a parliamentary seminar organised by law firm Bell Gully.

"Whether we like it or not, we are not going to be making a substantial change to our present electoral system when the review is through."

Mr Hunt said he had opposed MMP's introduction in 1996 because he thought it would result in instability, and governments would not be able to function efficiently.

"I have been forced to admit that I have been wrong."

Governments had functioned perfectly effectively since 1996, even though they had been forced to rely on shifting alliances.

Few of the written submissions to the committee call for a return to first-past-the-post, and there appears to be little backing for the halfway house supplementary member system.

Labour argues that better public education is required to increase voter knowledge of MMP and the impact of the party vote.

National has not expressed a view on MMP, but supports cutting the number of MPs from 120 to 100.