Webb DuncanDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I'm a bit confused because on the one hand the National Party is saying Don't leap into electronic voting boots and all." and on the other they're saying it's a missed opportunity. So I'm really not quite sure. Perhaps they should talk to each other and organise themselves.But you know what? The other thing that strikes me is there they are talking about the need for paper voting. I don't know where they've been for the last 20 years because what we have here is a step forward. They might think that a postal system is going to be the future of voting but you know what I don't. I can't see all of the future but I can tell you what posting letters is something that most people under 30 have never done and never intend to do. So we need to catch up and move in to electronic voting and that's what this does. It does it in a very measured and a very careful way.First of all it gives the ability for a trial to be conducted but what it also does—and this was the improvement that the select committee brought to the bill—is it puts significant safeguards in place because we recognise that when anything is under trial there may be errors. And if there are errors we need to be able to intervene. So the electoral officer is given considerable powers—and this was at the behest of the select committee—to intervene and say "Hang on. That's not working. For the purposes of this trial the people who have cast their vote electronically need to go and cast it again in the traditional manner. Now that's a really useful safeguard and in fact if the trial's a significant one the electoral officer has the power to apply to void the election—a very serious step; a step that wouldn't be taken lightly of course and subject to judicial oversight.But what we have here is a step forward because we need to start engaging in making voting accessible understandable and easy. Whilst the majority of the National Party may have grown up with carrier pigeons what we have here is a bill that uses modern accessible technology which is understandable by the majority of New Zealanders by people who have grown up using emails who have grown up using secure systems to buy things to communicate with others and all sorts of things. The suggestion that there is some fatal flaw; that electronic voting is not sustainable—there's simply not the evidence to back it up. Electronic voting is used in important elections across New Zealand already. We only have to look at shareholder voting to see that. Those kinds of votes are important votes—absolutely secure; no suggestion of fraud. Notwithstanding that there are many millions of dollars at stake and if it was susceptible no doubt someone would have had a go.So what we have here is a step forward. It gives the ability to local authorities to make these decisions but it's a great step in the right direction whilst as Ms Ghahraman said we are looking to further democratise New Zealand to make our democracy—what goes on in local Government and elsewhere—more accessible to all New Zealanders. That's absolutely a good thing. I commend this bill to the House."