Barker Rick: Electoral Matters Bill — First Reading 
Barker Rick: Electoral Matters Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:618;Page:14199] 
Hon RICK BARKER (Associate Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Electoral Matters Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I will move that the bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration and that the committee present its final report on or before 1 November 2004 and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions and during any evening on the day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week when there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 191 and 194(1)(b) and (c). 
This bill amends provisions in section 55 of the Electoral Act relating to when a member of Parliament must vacate his or her seat. It also cures an anomaly in section 55E of the Electoral Act that could see the Governor-General or a senior judge take a role in the party-hopping procedure which would be inappropriate to their constitutional functions. The bill also makes a number of procedural and technical amendments to the electoral broadcasting regime to allow the Electoral Commission to allocate funds effectively for electoral broadcasting for the next general election. 
New Zealand is a diverse multicultural society that recognises the rights of its citizens to hold citizenship in other countries in addition to their New Zealand citizenship. In the 21st century New Zealand people with dual or multiple citizenships are becoming more and more common. There is no reason to think that the situation will be different for members of Parliament. However MPs differ from other citizens in one vital respect. They represent the people of New Zealand and it is essential that they demonstrate an ongoing commitment to New Zealand and the people they represent. This bill clarifies the position of MPs who wish to exercise the same rights of citizenship that are granted to other New Zealand citizens. 
The bill amends section 55 of the Electoral Act so that it is clear first that a member of the New Zealand Parliament must be a New Zealand citizen at all times and second that an MP must vacate his or her seat if he or she acquires the citizenship of another country by grant. This means that an MP must vacate his or her seat in the New Zealand Parliament if firstly he or she accepts nomination as a candidate for election to another Parliament or secondly takes office including by appointment that involves the swearing of an oath of allegiance to a country other than New Zealand. But an MP who is entitled to citizenship of another country by birth or descent who renews an existing passport to another country or who automatically acquires citizenship as a result of marriage to a citizen of another country can continue as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and does not have to vacate his or her seat. I am sure that members of the House and the public would view this as a sensible arrangement. 
Turning to section 55E of the Electoral Act the current wording of this section has it that when the Speaker of the House is absent the Governor-General or in her absence the Administrator of Government—either the Chief Justice or the President of the Court of Appeal—would be the person to whom a parliamentary leader must deliver notice that he or she is exercising the party-hopping provisions under the Electoral Act. Given the political nature of these provisions it would be undesirable for the Governor-General or a senior judge to take such a role. The bill therefore substitutes a new definition of “appropriate person” in section 55E of the Electoral Act which removes this anomaly by referring only to the Speaker and which is consistent with similar provisions in the Electoral Act. In other words in the absence of the Speaker the Deputy Speaker would fulfil the function. 
The electoral broadcasting regime is vital to our healthy democracy. It allocates a slice of the pie to parties whether they be big or small to enable them to deliver key messages to voters in a fair and equitable way. Following inquiries into the 1996 1999 and 2002 elections the Justice and Electoral Committee has recommended a number of procedural and technical amendments to the broadcasting regime. While not all those recommendations have been included in this particular bill it does include a number of straightforward amendments that will allow the Electoral Commission to more effectively allocate funds for electoral broadcasting for the next general election. It does this by removing some of the well-recognised anomalies and administratively burdensome processes of the current broadcasting regime. 
In particular the bill will repeal the outdated requirements for the Electoral Commission to invite broadcasters to provide free or discounted time for electoral broadcasting—a process that must start some 8 to 9 months before Parliament is due to expire. The invitation process is administratively burdensome and achieves no greater level of discount than broadcasters would offer in the normal course of events. The select committee inquiry into the 2002 election saw no value in retaining those provisions. The change effected by this bill would not remove the allocation of free time for the opening and closing addresses that TVNZ and Radio New Zealand have to provide but it will allow the Electoral Commission to conduct the allocation process more efficiently. 
Secondly the bill amends the provisions of the Broadcasting Act so that only registered parties will be eligible for allocations of time and money. The current provisions allow unregistered parties to be eligible for an allocation if they have at least five constituency candidates on the eligibility date. The select committee considered that eligibility should be confined to registered parties in order to ensure that parties have some degree of public support before being eligible for an allocation of public funds. I agree with its recommendation. Because the invitation process if it were to remain would have to commence in November this year and because a select committee has already debated the proposed amendments in relation to the broadcasting regime I shall be asking the Justice and Electoral Committee to make its report to this House on or before 1 November 2004. 
The primary objective of bringing this bill before the House has been to amend the Electoral Act to clarify when a member of Parliament must vacate his or her seat. At the same time it has provided an appropriate vehicle and an opportunity for other amendments particularly those that will assist the efficient operation of the Electoral Commission. The Justice and Electoral Committee has of course recommended a fundamental review of the law relating to parliamentary elections. The Government is giving further consideration to the significant matters raised by the committee and the scope resource implications and timing of the work required to undertake this review. 
I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration and that the committee present its final report on or before 1 November 2004 and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions and during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 191 and 194(1)(b) and (c). I commend the bill to the House.