Delahunty Catherine: Electoral Referendum Bill — Second Reading 
Delahunty Catherine: Electoral Referendum Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:669;Page:15858] 
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tena koutou katoa. I will start my acknowledgement of the Electoral Referendum Bill by acknowledging a great leader and a previous member of this House Rod Donald. He did not craft MMP on his own but he was a major player. It is very sad to me that he is not here today to participate in this debate because I am sure he would have some very powerful things to say on this issue. The Green Party is very interested in constitutional reform. Speaking personally I think MMP has been a very major step forward for this country but I do not want it to stop there. I would like to see constitutional reform based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I would like to see models followed such as the Bolivian constitution where the principle of Pachamama—Earth first—is built into the constitution. I would like to see the advice of constitutional leaders like Moana Jackson taken into account. We do not need to stop; we need to keep going in reforming MMP. 
However I would like to acknowledge the really good progress that was made at the Electoral Legislation Committee on this bill. The Green Party representative on the committee Metiria Turei said that it was very pleasing considering the doubts that the party had about the bill to actually participate in a positive process and to get to a point where the party was able to fully support the bill. We are very happy with that. I also agree with the previous speaker the Hon Steve Chadwick that the community is relatively politically illiterate on this issue and that we really do need civics education. I think we have to ask who benefits when the citizens are politically literate. That is a real risk and that is why we should be starting at the beginning with civics education. 
The Greens believe that our democracy thrives on ideas not fat wallets. Our electoral process is the central mechanism to ensure that ideas are of greater value than our bank balances. A knowledge of our electoral process is of course important when electing the politicians and parties that make up our Parliament and our Government. It is even more important when citizens have to make a decision about how to elect politicians and parties to Parliament. It is that decision that affects the very core of the representative democracy that we have at the moment in Aotearoa New Zealand. Therefore we must make sure that we make this decision with the best and fairest process possible. Our system is not perfect and it never will be but our democracy should never be static. It should always be evolving with the challenges of the 21st century. That is why I commented earlier on the fact that we are in Aotearoa New Zealand; therefore our country should be based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi as should our constitution. 
This bill is an important step in confirming New Zealand voters’ choice of electoral system. It establishes a two-stage referenda on our electoral system. Voters will rightly make up their own minds as to the kind of electoral system that is best for the country. Voting is one of the responsibilities of citizenship and with that responsibility and with matters like the electoral system citizens need to consider the needs of the country first. In order to do that they need to understand what it is that they are doing. 
As this bill has progressed through the select committee process the Greens have been very happy to play a constructive role in the process. We are particularly pleased that there is a cap on advertising spending by campaign promoters. We argued that that was critical in gaining our support and the 1000 individual submitters who also supported a cap will be very heartened to know that they have been listened to. It restores one’s faith in the select committee process. The Green Party has long campaigned on a fair and democratic electoral process that favours all citizens not the wealthy few. The influence of money on politics is one of the greatest threats to freedom and to democracy. We know that in Aotearoa wealthy non - political party actors can intervene in the election process by buying advertising and distorting the process in favour of their agenda. For that reason modern democracies all around the planet have introduced rules to try to limit the influence of money on politics. So a cap on those campaigning in the electoral referendum just as there are caps in other referendums is a critical step towards a fairer process. 
The Green Party also holds open democracy as a central tenet of the New Zealand polity. It is important that the public knows who is involved in advertising both for and against MMP. We also believe that the identity of donors and the amount they donate should be public knowledge as then people can make up their own minds about the messages they have been given. 
The extensive select committee process confirmed much of the detail of the original bill such as the referenda timetable the review of MMP and arrangements for the vote. The detail that changed was the improvement of the ballot paper. Again there were many submissions on this point and the committee was very responsive—all credit to it. We heard from many submitters that the review of MMP which has triggered 50 percent of voters to vote to keep MMP should be given some emphasis in referendum publicity. They believe that this is such an integral part of the referenda proposal that it should be given prominence especially in the public information process. We support this and we sought to have a review of MMP regardless of the outcome of the 2011 referendum. We will support Labour’s Supplementary Order Paper on that issue during the Committee stage of the bill. 
We in the Green Party do not hesitate in affirming our support of MMP. MMP has meant that many more New Zealanders are represented in Parliament and in Government. MMP has enhanced the representation of women of Maori of Pacific peoples and of Asian people in this House. MMP means that different ideas ideologies values and solutions are represented in Parliament and Government. I would not hesitate to say that having different voices in the select committee hearings has resulted in a better bill and it is because of MMP that we have those different voices present instead of just a single monolithic adversarial tradition. The advent of new parties has gifted the House with a creativity and innovation that was absent during the long reign of the duopoly of Labour and National and it is great to see Labour at least supporting that. MMP has increased the breadth of Parliament so that it better reflects the country as a whole. Our country is now very diverse and more politically aware in terms of the Treaty and in terms of different cultures than in the past and our Parliament must reflect that. 
We still do not have 50 percent of women in Parliament. We still do not have that gender balance in Parliament. Some countries have quota systems to ensure that they have that. We still have a way to go but we have improved because of MMP. If we are to be in any sense a House of Representatives then surely a system that increases representation of New Zealanders is the goal. I know that women MPs and obviously National women MPs in particular must be proud of the number of seats they now command in this Parliament compared with previous Parliaments. 
The Green Party believes that our citizens deserve a fair electoral system that is representative of the vast majority of New Zealanders and that is able to meet the expectations of our progressive 21st century Aotearoa and we look forward to its continuance. We also support the progress that was made at the select committee and we are pleased to be able to continue our support for the bill now. Kia ora.