Morgan prepares his fledgling party for an early election

Millionaire economist Gareth Morgan is fast-tracking the registration of his new political party, saying he wants to prepare for a possible early election.

Morgan launched The Opportunities Party (Top) last November, saying he wanted to ‘‘light a fuse’’ under Parliament and break the stranglehold that career politicians had on the country. He had initially planned to register his party with the Electoral Commission in March, after releasing his seven ‘‘policy priorities’’.

However, Morgan said in a post on the Top website that changes in the electoral landscape had increased the chances of an early election, meaning he did not want to wait.

‘‘With John Key resigning and Labour seeming to be calling byelections at will, there is a possi- bility that National will get sick of that tactic and just go early.

‘‘We have to be prepared for that eventuality.’’

Morgan said the party had more than 2000 financial members – well over the 500 required for registration – but wanted to grow that figure so he had ‘‘a real mandate for change’’.

When he launched his party, Morgan blamed ‘‘establishment parties and career politicians’’ for high levels of inequality and fall- ing housing affordability, saying they did not like taking radical action.

‘‘They give priority to no change, they do not like disturbing voters. I feel that they look at their career prospects above all else,’’ Morgan said.

He was happy with the public response to Top’s first two policy releases, about home ownership and immigration.

‘‘New Zealanders, I think, recognise the need for fundamen- tal change if we are going to end this crazy inequality ladder we’ve been climbing since the neo-liberal experiment failed to deliver ‘trickle down’.

‘‘As I keep saying, you cannot build genuine and sustained prosperity on a tax and regulatory base that is simply unfair.’’

Morgan, who said in November his party would be list-only, had since been ‘‘approached by some pretty outstanding candidates who wish to stand in electorates’’.

He said he was reconsidering his list-only approach.

‘‘While personally I don’t want to go near Parliament without a significant mandate for progress, there are both younger and regionally-oriented people already amongst our membership who would form a great ongoing parliamentary team.’’

Each proposal to run a candidate in an electorate would be assessed on its merits, Morgan said. – Fairfax NZ

Death not suspicious

A man found dead outside a house in Te Atatu, West Auckland, yesterday morning was likely to have died from natural causes, police say. Police were notified at 6.25am that a man’s body has been found on the footpath near a Te Atatu bus stop. Police said initial indications showed there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

Shots fired from car

Police are hunting for up to four men who drove through Wainuiomata yesterday shooting out of a moving car. Police said they were called to Wainuiomata about 1.30pm to reports of a car driving ‘‘up and down Coast Rd’’ where three or four men were shooting a rifle out of the window. There were no reports of injuries.

Mum lets child drive

An Auckland mother has stunned police by letting her 9-year-old daughter drive her car. Police were called when the child was spotted driving in the North Shore suburb of Paremoremo on Monday. She had been on a residents-only access road, used by other cars and considered to be a public road. Her mother had been sitting in the passenger seat. The mum admitted letting her daughter drive and said she was going to pull the handbrake on if her daughter lost control. After the officer explained the dangers of allowing a 9-year-old to drive a car, the mum was given a warning.

Gun amnesty sought

Police top brass want an amnesty on illegal firearms after an 18-month period in which police shot seven people – four of them fatally. In the latest incident Savey Kevin Sous, 32, from Upper Hutt, was shot and later died after pointing a gun at officers in Whanganui on Friday. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police would support a grace period allowing people to hand in unwanted firearms for a time. He said he did not believe a government buy-back of illegal guns would work as a solution to the number of illegal weapons. Police Association president Chris Cahill said there was a link to the number of shootings to the thousands of guns coming into the country each year, which were then stolen or sold to offenders. Cahill supported the idea of a widespread amnesty. He estimated about 50,000 guns were sold in New Zealand each year.

Publican charged

A West Coast publican has been charged with assaulting a train driver. Lester Rowntree owns the Otira Stagecoach Hotel in Otira on State Highway 73 near Arthur’s Pass. He bought 21 hectares including the hotel, 18 houses, hall, fire station, beside the Otira railway a few years ago. He is now defending a charge of assaulting a KiwiRail employee and has been trespassed from all KiwiRail owned land in Otira and Arthur’s Pass. The judge-alone trial will be held in the Greymouth District Court on January 30.