Katene Rahui: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Katene Rahui: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:663;Page:11009] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 I am delighted to stand today in support of this third reading of a very important bill the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill which will create an amalgamated electoral administrative entity that will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our electoral system. The Maori Party has been pleased to support this bill throughout its passage in the House and we thank the Minister of Justice for his good work in making such good and rapid progress. 
The quality of the administration system is fundamental to improving and increasing Maori electoral participation—a goal that is of course of the utmost importance to our party. I bring a particular experience with me to this bill in light of the history of Te Tai Tonga electorate. Te Tai Tonga or its predecessor Southern Maori has suffered more than its fair share of administrative complexities over the years. It is easily the biggest electorate in the country. In fact I tried to tell some Australians that it was the biggest in the world but they just laughed. It covers 161000 kilometres and we have had ongoing issues in relation to access and administration. 
Dr Tiopira McDowell has presented a historical overview of Southern Maori recording that in the 19th century the number of polling places in the south declined in comparison with other Maori electorates. So although in 1868 Southern Maori was assigned along with the other Maori electorates the grand total of 11 polling places by 1887 Southern Maori had only 25 polling places compared with 35 in Northern Maori 61 in Eastern Maori and 86 in Western Maori. So it was a huge electorate with only 25 polling places which was totally unfair. According to Dr McDowell the iwi of the south made up for those difficulties by sending some of their most articulate outspoken and tireless members to take on that seat. They were people of the ilk of H K Taiaroa Tame Parata who was a whanaunga of our colleague Hekia Eruera Tirikatene and Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan. 
I raise this history today because I think it is important that one of the first tasks of the new Electoral Commission will be to look at equity and parity across all electorates to ensure that there is a coordinated overview that makes a priority commitment to effective administration for all electorates and subsequently for all voters. It is somewhat dispiriting to know that in the 2005 inquiry into the general election the Maori Party raised a very similar issue to the one first mooted in 1887 in recommending that the Chief Electoral Office review its organisation and resourcing of polling places. The view from the Maori Party was that all polling places should have sufficient supplies and trained staff to cope with the demands they face on polling day and that this standard must be equally applied across all electorates. 
In a previous reading of this bill I raised the views of the Nelson Bays Community Law Service which raised a range of issues that the new Electoral Commission could look at to ensure the health of democracy and the electoral process. That excellent community law service raised issues such as an insufficient number of Maori roll voting papers and a lack of Maori roll data as being issues that could have been easily rectified. A point raised by Dr Helena Catt during the Justice and Electoral Committee hearings was that she welcomed the inclusion of a clear education role for the new entity. That is something that the Maori Party holds as critical to the effective functioning of electoral democracy. We were interested too in the comments from Dr Catt suggesting that in time the education role should be expanded to include all elections for public office. Although we note that a cost saving to the Government of 3.19 percent is expected from this bill it does make me wonder about a broader value that we could expect to emerge from improved representation and participation in the electoral process. Better services for voters candidates and political parties should we hope result in a more reliable and fuller participation at the polling booths. 
Finally we are happy to support this bill as a sound platform for future development. If I can I will share just one more topical snippet from the impressive records of Dr Tiopira McDowell: “History records the fate of one Deputy Returning Officer J T Large who was sent on a 15 day trek from Lake Waikaremoana to record votes in the remote Urewera ranges. After being lost and injured on his journey he arrived to find that most of the community had left to go to Whakatane and was told to count the trees for votes.” From time to time issues of administrative overload or error continue to confront us. Indeed sometimes they have been so significant that we literally cannot see the forest for the trees. I can only hope that at the 2011 elections we can see a way forward through the forest and through the trees to a future in which all voters have the benefit of being able to participate in a healthy democracy in an effective electoral system. We are pleased to support this bill.