SpeechPAULO GARCIA (National): I cannot help but comment on the nobody cares" statement. I know that there are a whole bunch of people out there who are listening and watching—maybe now or maybe later—who care about what is happening with the law of New Zealand. Right now in this Parliament we are debating on the second round the same concept that we know on this side of the House many members of the public oppose—that is essentially that giving back the reinstating of the right to vote for prisoners who are imprisoned with sentences having to be served for less than three years.It's not easy to be imprisoned in New Zealand. Members of the police force will tell us that. The members of the public know that it's not easy to be put in prison. It's not taken lightly by the system nor the public. Once a person goes through the process of disavowing or breaking the social contract that he has with other persons or with the State that person will go through a process and part of the results of that breaking away from the social contract of behaving in accordance with law will have consequences. The consequence of imprisonment does come with a loss of civil liberties which include the right to vote. This is not unique to New Zealand. This is shared by other countries around the world where prisoners who are convicted of crimes and are in prison are relieved of that right to vote. So I believe that people out there do care about what is happening now and what is happening now essentially is giving to these prisoners the opportunity to vote while they are still serving their sentence.Again losing the right to vote is a consequence of serious offending—not petty offending; serious offending. There are people who have committed—the level of imprisonment of up to three years and beyond reflects the severity of the offending that the prisoner has done and has been tried and convicted of doing. These include serious assault violent robberies family violence offences and sexual offences. We all react when we hear about these crimes being committed. We all care that these crimes should not be committed. Imprisonment is a deterrent and the loss of civil liberties including that special right to be able to vote and choose the members of Parliament for example is something that needs to be taken away as a consequence.National was opposed to the original legislation called the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill. That has now been passed into Act by a process of urgency where the process the legislative process has been shortened truncated abbreviated. A lot of the process which normally allows for the public to be heard and to provide their position has not occurred. A great part of the earlier process of the original legislation had carried on through lockdown where very little opportunity to look at it from the outside was ever given to the public.Now in reinstating a convicted prisoner's right to vote we are essentially I believe re-victimising the victims. We acknowledge that we want to give these prisoners the opportunity to have their say—when they themselves in committing the offence that they have been tried and convicted for have actually deprived their victims of their say in what has been done to them. And by allowing prisoners to vote I believe that every victim throughout New Zealand is again put through that process of losing that voice that they may have as victims in seeing the incarceration and the removal of civil liberties for every prisoner that is in prison for certain crimes.The current bill seeks to amend through clauses 5 and 6 the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Act—so bill No. 1. Clause 5 and 6 pertain to the requirement for Corrections officers to assist prisoners in prison and assist them to get enrolled to vote if they are serving sentences of less than three years. For many this reinstatement of their right to vote will be and can be exercised in the coming elections.I think when this is mentioned and considering the serious economic situation that New Zealand finds itself in and considering that we are undergoing this process of urgency where we have been here all afternoon into this night debating another bill—another bill—that deals with the same reinstatement of rights I just feel and believe that it is a wasted opportunity. We could very well be in urgency considering a bill that could be addressing assistance to businesses or possibly something that could improve the economy of New Zealand which is now in grave danger. I come to clause 6 where prisoners who are sentenced to three years or more imprisonment will be asked if they would like to be enrolled and they will be helped to enrol and they will be asked if they will agree to their enrolment details to be furnished to the Electoral Commission.Once a sentence has been served and a prisoner has done his time then essentially as he is released then that deprivation of civil liberties rightfully is given back to him. This makes absolute sense and on this part I believe National supports that reinstatement and that re-enrolment at that point of release. But that is not the same to say for prisoners who continue to be incarcerated and who continue to be serving the sentences that they have been tried and convicted of and which they wouldn't have been convicted of if they had not broken that social contract with the State and other persons. Thank you Madam Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): The following call's a split call—Gareth Hughes."