Anderson MilesMILES ANDERSON (National—Waitaki): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm standing here today to oppose the Local Electoral (Abolition of the Ratepayer Roll) Amendment Bill. The member opposite—Greg O'Connor—advocated for a continuum of change. One thing that he didn't do was provide an overwhelming amount of evidence that local elections were being skewed in any way by ratepayer roll voters. The member opposite also talked a bit about the American Revolution and the assertation of no taxation without representation which I will go into a little bit later on in this 10-minute call.But what I'd like to say is this bill seeks to amend the Local Government Act 2002 to abolish the ratepayer roll. And there are many reasons why the National Party will not be supporting this bill. First and foremost is the removal of property owners' ability to vote in local elections. This is the core concept of taxation without representation and it flies in the face of natural justice. It alienates a proportion of ratepayers from taking part in local government affairs and local democracy.We already have an issue in this country with low engagement in local government affairs as the member opposite pointed out. Why should we further legislate against community and ratepayer engagement? The member opposite discussed turnout in local elections and how it was so low and his answer for low turnout was to reduce the number of eligible voters which doesn't make any sense at all.One of the core concepts of New Zealand's rating system is the link between ratepayers and council accountability. Removing the ability of some ratepayers to vote erodes this crucial part of our democratic process. National believes that all councils should remain accountable to ratepayers. Removing the ability of those ratepayers who do not live within the jurisdiction to vote erodes this accountability.We have always had a proud history in the National Party of supporting localism and devolution demonstrated by our policies such as Local Water Done Well which restores local ownership and control of water assets. It is paramount that councils are accountable for those who fund them: those who are the true investors in projects and critical infrastructure that councils develop and maintain.In the Waitaki electorate we have numbers of dwellings that are owned by people who live outside those council areas. And to suggest that those people have less interest or should have less rights than other residents is clearly the wrong approach. Whether you are a ratepayer in Hāwea Wānaka Cromwell Ōmākau Ranfurly Twizel Tekapō Geraldine Waimate Kurow Ōāmaru or Palmerston you deserve to be able to have a say in the way your money's spent.Rawiri Waititi: Gosh where are those places?MILES ANDERSON: Come down and visit. It is not as if people are having multiple votes in the same jurisdiction. It remains the concept of one man one vote.Celia Wade-Brown: What about the women?MILES ANDERSON: And one woman one vote—there you go. It is much the same as New Zealanders who live in overseas jurisdictions such as Australia or the UK who are still eligible to vote in our general elections here in New Zealand.As the deputy leader of our party Nicola Willis had so rightly put the principles of one person one vote is critically important. What we are seeing with the issue of people who are resident in two jurisdictions is that they are not being afforded any more vote in that jurisdiction than anybody else.So the question remains: how much of an influence are these ratepayers actually having on voting outcomes? We would be far better as a country to get more engagement in local and regional government processes or elections than trying to penalise those who demonstrate an active interest in their community.Arena Williams: Give the 16-year-olds the vote then!MILES ANDERSON: No not at all.So as I said earlier the American Revolution was a—Hon Kieran McAnulty: Good segue.MILES ANDERSON: Yes good segue. The American Revolution—Arena Williams: Do anything to avoid that one!MILES ANDERSON: Thank you very much. The American—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you to the member for sticking to this piece of legislation.MILES ANDERSON: Yes. The American Revolution was a revolution that was fought over the concept of no taxation without representation. And here we have something very similar today that's been proposed by the member opposite. The idea that somebody who is a ratepayer in one jurisdiction and a property owner in another is somehow—Rawiri Waititi: Get it out man!MILES ANDERSON: —Get it out"; yes I am—screwing the scrum when it comes to democracy is a nonsense. So the—Hon Kieran McAnulty: Oh this is painful.MILES ANDERSON: Ha ha! It is really isn't it? It was supposed to be five minutes to start with.Hon Member: He's doing a good job.MILES ANDERSON: Thank you very much.Tom Rutherford: Tell us about the towns in your electorate again.MILES ANDERSON: Which one do you want to hear about?Hon Member: Wānaka.MILES ANDERSON: Wānaka is a beautiful place. Right on the shores of Lake Wānaka.Reuben Davidson: Well your voters would be proud of you.MILES ANDERSON: Thank you very much. So however long story short: we oppose this bill."