Finlayson: Time for 4-yr term
Outgoing National MP Chris Finlayson has used his valedictory speech to call for changes to the political system.
The former AttorneyGeneral said the parliamentary term should be increased from three years to four for a Government to be effective.
He also said MPs should have to take a sabbatical after five three-year terms or four four-year terms.
“A break would allow MPs to re-enter the real world and if they’re odd enough to want to come back well, they can do so,” Finlayson said yesterday.
He raised concern about the relationship between the courts and Parliament.
“One of the things that amazes me in this place is that there really is a lack of practical understanding of the separation of powers.
“Sometimes the courts overstep the mark with Parliament when they go too far with parliamentary privilege.”
Finlayson, watched on by a crowd in the public gallery that included his mother and former National Prime Ministers Sir Bill English and Jim Bolger, acknowledged former party leaders and Prime Ministers Sir John Key and English.
He mentioned Labour MPs past and present including Dame Winnie Laban, Dame Annette King, Paul Eagle, Paul Swain and Rick Barker and Dame Fran Wilde.
But one person who did not get a mention in his final speech was current National leader Simon Bridges.
Bridges was caught on tape earlier this year talking with now disgraced MP Jami-Lee Ross about MPs the party could afford to lose. Finlayson was among those named.
But Finlayson did pay tribute to his “talented” National caucus colleagues, singling out Gerry Brownlee for his time as a minister overseeing the aftermath of the Canterbury quakes and the Christchurch rebuild.
Finlayson, a born and bred Wellingtonian, worked in law for 25 years before entering Parliament and it is to law he will return.