Anderton Jim: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Anderton Jim: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:10897] 
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Leader—Progressive) 
: 
 I share some of the concerns of the previous speaker the Hon Lianne Dalziel but any new Electoral Commission could not possibly be as bad as the last one. I am willing to back the ideas that are in the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill and I support the establishment of a new Electoral Commission. As my colleague Lianne Dalziel said the objectives of the Electoral Commission are perfectly sensible and reasonable: to “administer the electoral system impartially efficiently effectively” to assist democratic participation to promote “understanding of the electoral system” and to maintain “confidence in the administration of the electoral system.” 
We have to go back to the 2005 election to see the origins of deep concern about the way that elections have been run. There was anonymous and even deceitful advertising full-page colour ads the day before the election and outrageous attacks—I will not go into the details; that would repeat the defamation—against Progressive candidates like me and also against Green and Labour candidates. The attacks were all in blue—but I will not blame the current people for that—and all subsequently sheeted home to the Exclusive Brethren of course. I must say that when I looked at my result I should not really complain because my majority went up. If we fast forward to the 2008 election the Government of which I was a coalition partner attempted to amend the Electoral Act to prevent a rerun of 2005. We had very good intentions but I have to say with the best will in the world we did not quite get it right—thus this attempt to amend that legislation. 
My press releases at the time which were already in the public arena having been sent out by email were reported to the police by the commission in the middle of the election campaign. My electronic ministerial newsletter that I sent out as Associate Minister of Health which I had been sending out for 9 years was reported to the Electoral Commission and it reported the newsletter to the police. The police had more common sense and better things to do and threw both of them out—peremptorily I might say. But I had to employ a QC to defend myself in the middle of an election campaign. Both of those reports to the police from the Electoral Commission displayed a level of incompetence and ill-informed analysis that was in my view simply unacceptable and outrageous. I will not miss that commission or the members of it and the sooner we get another one in place the better for me personally—from my experience of it. 
If this bill as I expect it will improves on that hopeless situation—it will be hard not to in my view—it will be welcomed by most New Zealanders including me. There will be some time pressures because elections roll around pretty quickly and by the time this legislation is in place and the commission is in place we will be involved in a general election and as my colleague said a referendum—not a definitive one but a necessary one and one that is important to the future of the electoral system in this country. I think we will have to give some attention to the resources that the commission has at its disposal for that purpose. 
But by and large the work that the Minister has done the clear intentions to improve the quality of electoral legislation and the work of the commission are supported I am sure by every member of the House and I certainly look forward to the implementation of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill.