United
Future leader Peter Dunne has accepted the Speaker's ruling to strip
his party of recognition saying he had "no credible alternative".
David
Carter ruled today that the party will no longer be recognised as a
party for parliamentary purposes and Mr Dunne will be treated as an
independent MP.
He made the announcement in the House today after giving it "considerable thought". The ruling is effective immediately.
The ruling means the party cannot keep more than $100,000 in party funding.
However, Mr
Carter said if the party were to regain its registration he would
"revisit the matter of the recognition of its parliamentary membership
on the basis it is a political party in whose name a member was elected
in the 2011 general election".
"In doing so I
believe I am properly balancing the competing public interest –
balancing on one hand the need for openness and transparency in public
funding, and on the other hand party representation as determined by the
electorate at the last election."
Mr Dunne's party was de-registered last month because it could not prove it had more than 500 members.
He
pleaded for the Electoral Commission to change its rules, which state
he must produce hardcopy proof of each member. That process could take
weeks or even months to collect.
Mr Carter said
the matter was still with the Electoral Commission and it was "likely"
to take more time than originally anticipated. He did not want to
influence their decision.
"However, the time
that may be involved creates a level of uncertainty that has the
potential to disrupt the business of the House.
"The House's longstanding
practice is that it does not concern itself with the membership of
political parties. Its concern is only for their parliamentary
membership."
Registration of a party and its recognition under standing orders were not the same thing, he said.
Registration
allowed political parties to contest the party vote at the next
election and also allowed them to be considered for allocation of free
time and money to broadcast election advertising.
"Recognition
acknowledges that the parliamentary membership of parties elected at
the previous election […] it's greatest significance resides in the fact
that it enables a party's parliamentary membership to receive
additional funding."
Mr Carter said he had to balance two "fundamental public interests".
"It
is not tenable for a party that cannot reasonably demonstrate its wider
representative capacity to continue to be funded. On the other hand
party representation of community interests expressed at a general
election should not be interfered with lightly."
Earlier
today the Auditor-General refused to intervene over the funding row and
said Mr Dunne's entitlements were still lawful while he is still
recognised as party leader.
Auditor-General Lyn
Provost said Mr Dunne's funding was lawful because United Future was
still recognised as a party by Mr Carter.
However,
she added if the Speaker determines United Future is no longer
recognised as a party, its funding entitlements will change accordingly.
Mr
Carter previously said it is the first time a parliamentary party has
been de-registered, and there is little guidance in Parliament's
standing orders or previous speakers' directions about what to do.
3 News Tue, 25 Jun 2013 2:30p.m.
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