‘I find that a terrible accusation to make against someone,’ said Deputy Haley Camp.
‘We had a policy letter with over 20 very valid amendments and they all deserve to be spoken about. I do not believe that any of my colleagues have been filibustering, and I don’t like the fact that it appears to me that rules have been used in order to do quite the opposite.’
Deputy Simon Vermeulen said it was ‘a very harsh accusation and totally unfounded’.
‘These are serious issues and I’ve had hundreds of emails on the subject and the public are genuinely upset. I’ve read those letters and they’re quite harrowing. I think this is a rush job – I don’t think we’ve done proper consultation with the public. These amendments have got to be debated properly and that’s the product of not having a decent policy letter that everybody’s bought into.’
P&R president Lindsay de Sausmarez admitted that she felt there had been ‘a bit of an orchestrated effort at times’.
‘Nobody’s told me directly but I’ve heard from from various people who claim that they have been told directly that there was an explicit decision. If so, it’s frustrating when we’re in there to get through government business, we’re not in there to waste time.
‘We’re there to make decisions and get through business. And it’s just frustrating that we didn’t manage to do that. Hopefully we’ll get better.’
Both opponents to GST said that they thought the final vote was still in the balance.
‘My feeling is they tell me they’ve got the numbers but my feeling is also they’ve been losing,’ said Deputy Vermeulen.
‘I certainly think it’s close. I’d say it really is on a knife’s edge,’ added Deputy Camp.
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