Henare PeeniPEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare kia ora anō tātou katoa ai ka pai kia ora. [Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and greetings once again to us all. Gosh well done; thanks.]I stand to contribute to the second reading debate of the Broadcasting (Election Programmes and Election Advertising) Amendment Bill and the Electoral Amendment Bill. I want to start by saying that we support the bills. When I consider elections as young as I am—having taken part in just a handful of elections—I am always reminded of a discussion with my son who is of voting age. When I asked him whether or not he would vote and whether or not he would vote for his father he said to me: Well are you going to fill up my car?". The reason I give that story is that when I consider legislation—in particular after the review having sat on the select committee—I would like to think that the legislation would make the election a fair playing field. I think it does that with some of the broadcasting provisions and changes proposed in the broadcasting bill.I would like to think that the legislation and the review would make sure that democracy and the ability to vote will be accessible to one and all. It is on that point that I raise some concerns. I raise concerns because as I sat and listened to the submissions during the review there were a number of submitters who talked about being able to engage with our young people—the disengaged—in particular Māori youth. Many options were mentioned. In particular one of those that I would like to touch on briefly is of course moving to a digital era. Many members in this House have talked about the different broadcasting platforms where voices can be heard with regard to elections and where electioneering can take place in advertising.If we are truly progressive we want to ensure that young people in Aotearoa New Zealand are able to engage and are able access the ability to vote. One of the clear sentiments that came through to me during the submissions was about making sure that technology keeps up with the times. We heard some submissions saying that technology is not quite there in terms of keeping secure digital files. I can understand that. But do you mean to tell me that all the platforms utilised by the various companies on the internet are at risk of suffering some sort of electronic sabotage? Do you mean to tell me that we cannot find an operating system that is secure enough that is easy to use and that is accessible?I think of the many young people of today who sit with their smartphones and who play on their iPads. One of my youngest children who is five engages on an iPad. We still hold on to this nostalgic view of walking in grabbing a big fat orange marker reading the name and ticking a box. Although I do not want to steal any of the occasion and the ceremony involved in voting I think that more thinking and planning can be done to ensure that we step in the right direction towards a digital voting system.In my final minute—gee time gets away—I will refer to the Māori electoral option. The Māori electoral option was an issue that came up during the submissions. The legislation does not respond to that at this particular point. We hope that it will address this issue by 2020 whereby those of Māori descent have the option at every election every 3 years to opt for the Māori roll. I know for example that there are approximately 8000 Māori in Maungakiekie one of the electorates in Tāmaki Makaurau who are not on the Māori roll. I have spoken to a fair number of them who are actually quite keen to engage in and to be an active participant on the Māori roll but there seems to be some sort of confusion about when they can opt in or even opt out. We want to make sure that that is quite clear and evident for all those of Māori heritage so that they can make an informed decision when the time comes. In closing we support these bills."