Chauvel Charles: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Chauvel Charles: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
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CHARLES CHAUVEL (Labour) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on the first reading of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill (No 2). As I think Lianne Dalziel and the Minister of Justice said this is the second bill in a two-stage reform of electoral administration serving to establish the new combined body to be known as the Electoral Commission. Members may remember from the debate on the first bill in this reform process that my colleagues on this side of the House spoke in support of the new Electoral Commission. The basis for that support is a belief that the current system is not as efficient as it might be and that the one proposed will be a more effective regulator of the electoral process. The quality of the proposed authority will be incredibly important. 
The very nature of changes to Acts such as the Electoral Act is such that they can have very serious constitutional ramifications in terms of the way in which our country runs. Although we support this bill on its introduction obviously we will have to subject it to very close scrutiny at the Justice and Electoral Committee and give serious consideration to all the submissions received. 
At this point in my speech I will pay tribute to the work that has already been done by the Electoral Legislation Committee in the process that I mentioned before which this bill is effectively the second part of because bills on the new electoral finance laws and the first referendum on MMP have also been considered by that committee. I think it is appropriate to record that that committee has worked on a multiparty basis to try to achieve consensus on matters that will hopefully mean we have greater integrity in our electoral law. I remember speaking on the earlier legislation and lamenting the fact that there was initially a refusal to provide for spending caps in it on so-called parallel campaigners or third parties so it is good to see that the committee has come back with a workable compromise on that issue. 
The committee has reported the new electoral finance and referenda legislation back to the House with a provision for a $300000 spending limit on third parties in the 3 months prior to an election. That is an appropriate thing to have done; it reflects the fact that the committee has worked well. The Minister of Justice has shown that he is working in an appropriate spirit on the electoral legislation by his accepting that recommendation and bringing the report back to the House with wide support. Clearly the decision to allow for a cap on third-party spending will go a long way towards quelling concerns that money could have an overt influence over future elections and that we were moving towards the Americanisation of our political system. 
I think we can be hopeful given the careful scrutiny and the eventual consensus that has been reached to date by the special Electoral Legislation Committee that we will see a careful consideration of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill (No 2) in the Justice and Electoral Committee and that if improvements to it are needed we will see them be made in a spirit of multiparty agreement as well. 
It is appropriate to have a new combined entity to regulate elections and it is likely that it will be more effective than the previous three entities. Although the election administration machinery will be streamlined by the bill I think it is appropriate for somebody in a first reading speech to at least record that in saying that nobody is trying to take anything away from the fine work that has been done by the three existing agencies which have served New Zealand well. We have had largely free and fair elections in this country. There are one or two notable exceptions that probably do not need to be reiterated in this speech but the office of the Chief Electoral Officer the previous Electoral Commission and the Chief Registrar of Electors have shown a demonstrable commitment to the oversight of free and fair elections. We are blessed in this country to have those types of elections generally. I think sometimes we take that for granted and we fail to realise how well served we have been. Let us hope that the new combined body will continue to work in the spirit of its three predecessors and do an even more effective job. It should be able to discharge its responsibilities efficiently by having all the functions in one body rather than having them split across three bodies. 
As to the need for reform it is interesting to look at the functions of the previous bodies. The Chief Electoral Office conducted the elections the Electoral Commission registered political parties and logos and the Chief Registrar of Electors was responsible for the electoral roll. Clearly the reform process that is mooted by this bill will make the system potentially more efficient by making sure that those roles are carried out by the new body. Giving it responsibility for conducting elections dealing with donations and expenditure informing the public about electoral matters appropriating broadcasting time and funding registering parties and logos maintaining the electoral roll sharing the information across what used to be separate authorities and reducing crossovers and potential miscommunications should all make for a better system. 
It is very important that the new commission be staffed at the highest levels by the very best people who are available. As Lianne Dalziel said this Parliament facilitated on the appointments side by the Minister has made two appointments to the new commission. A third appointment is pending. It is important that we have that appointment expedited so that the work of the commission can continue with a full complement of commission members. There is a big job ahead certainly in terms of supervising the next election and possibly the odd by-election that might well occur in the meantime and obviously there is the job of supervising the MMP referendum which the Government remains determined to hold in conjunction with the next election. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Where is Pansy? 
CHARLES CHAUVEL 
: Unfortunately we do not have the member for Botany here to tell us about the likelihood of the next by-election but obviously it is desirable to have the commission up and running at full strength as soon as possible. I do hope that the Minister will hasten to ensure that the third member of the commission can be appointed on a consensus basis in the Parliament as the legislation intends. 
The amendments that were recommended by the Justice and Electoral Committee following its inquiry into the 2008 general election will also when adopted in legislation make the enrolment process better. They will result in more people being on the electoral roll and provide more clarity around the status of immigrants to New Zealand and whether people in that category are eligible to enrol. This is good news. It has become an issue in recent years and it is an area that needs improvement. I know from personal experience in recent weeks of doorknocking in Mana that there is a lot of confusion in immigrant communities about enrolment. A lot of voters would not have had the chance to enrol if our party and no doubt other parties had not taken the forms physically to them in their homes in shopping centres or wherever else it was and ensured that they were on the roll or able to cast a special vote. The more that we can do to ensure that the body charged with the public function of ensuring that everybody who is entitled to be on the roll is on the roll the better it will be. Although we can praise the innovative work that has been done to date on enrolment there is always more that can be done especially with the use of the new technologies that are now at the command of the new body. We want to see all those innovative technologies and opportunities being deployed by the new body. 
I look forward to the general election next year being conducted under the new authority that the Government has set up. I am sure that the new commission will do an excellent job. I do hope that the third member of the commission is appointed promptly and also I wish the select committee all the best in its consideration of this legislation. I hope we will see the same type of consideration—thorough and consensus based—that we have seen to date on other electoral legislation in this Parliament.