Government Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau has condemned what he called the misuse of parliamentary committee field visits for political campaigning.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Ro Filipe expressed concern that some Members of Parliament were using official committee outreach activities to not only gather feedback from their political supporters but also to spread exaggerated claims and campaign narratives.
“I am very concerned that especially members of the committees are using the committee’s field visits to campaign and also get information from their support base,” he told the House.
“Don’t use the committee to render growth in the community and then create and spread wild rumours.”
He cited repeated claims about deteriorating infrastructure as an example of political exaggeration.
“We continue to hear statements like ‘there are potholes everywhere’. If that were true, 90% of our roads would be full of potholes. That’s simply not the reality,” Ro Filipe said.
The Minister also criticised the frequent use of the phrase “we were told” by some opposition MPs when presenting issues in Parliament.
“There is this continuing repetition, we were told this, we were told that, but are we presenting facts or campaigning under the guise of committee work?”
Ro Filipe defended the government’s record, stating that although the current administration had only been in power for three years, they had already made efforts to budget and resolve legacy issues dating back decades.
“These problems go back 16 years, let’s not pretend they appeared overnight,” he said.
