Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National): This is bad law. It is law that's being advanced by bad process, and it is based on bad principles. It's bad law because it underminingly says, "We don't trust New Zealanders. We're going to take away your right to have a say about how your community is governed." It is appalling process. The idea that you can bring a bill into Parliament affecting our electoral law and that we're going to give New Zealanders a week to make a submission to a select committee—a bill that is going to be the law of the land before the end of the month—is a disgrace to this Parliament and a disgrace for those memorials on the walls of this Parliament that recognise those that died for the true principles of democracy.