Andersen GinnyELECTORAL (STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingDebate resumed.GINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. The Electoral (Strengthening Democracy) Amendment Bill is an ambitious bill it has a lot of things in it. When looking at it I actually did wonder—I haven't asked the member responsible Golriz Ghahraman but it might be the entire kind of policy for justice for the Green Party because there's a lot in here. It wants to enable voters of Māori descent to change roll at any time. It wants to extend the voting age to 16 years to remove the requirement for New Zealand citizens living overseas to have visited New Zealand within the last three years to maintain their voting rights to give all people in prison the right to vote to implement the Electoral Commission's 2012 MMP review recommendations to increase the transparency and safeguards on donations to parties and candidates and finally to extend the reserve provisions to include all provisions that reduce eligibility to register as an elector or to vote in an election.So the Labour Party will not be supporting this bill for two primary reasons. The first reason is that we are already addressing a number of these points which I've outlined in legislation that is currently before the Justice Committee. Secondly those issues that are not currently in train within legislation before the House those are part of an independent review of electoral law that is due to be reported back by the end of 2023.So the Government has already recognised that we want to make the election rules clearer and fairer so that we can build more trust in the system and better support people to exercise their right to vote. This is a process that we're pleased to have kicked off already. Progressing this bill past the first reading will simply duplicate the work that is already under way.The issues in this bill are important but they are already being addressed by bills that have been introduced to this House. The Electoral (Māori Electoral Option) Legislation Bill which is one of the bill's proposed areas of reform is something that is before the committee right now. We have heard submissions. We've heard really good submissions from different areas around New Zealand from individuals and groups. We've been lucky enough to have that before us and we are due to report it back shortly. The Justice Committee is due to report back on 3 November and that area will be before the House for a second reading.The Māori electoral option is not the only option covered in this bill that is already going through the House. There are other issues including increasing the transparency of donations and also enabling citizens who have not been in New Zealand in the last three years due to COVID restrictions to vote—they are being addressed in the Electoral Amendment Bill which was introduced by the Government earlier in the year.We fully recognise the importance of trust in the integrity of New Zealand's electoral system which is why the Government is committed to increasing the transparency around donations to political parties. The issues in the Electoral Amendment Bill are similar to the bill we are debating today and require disclosure of donor identities for any party donations over 5000 the number and total value of party donations under $1500 that are not anonymous the proportion of total party donations that are in kind or non-monetary donations and also loans to candidates from unregistered lenders.In addition to changing the rules around donations the Electoral Amendment Bill will amend New Zealand's electoral legislation to temporarily extend the ability of those New Zealanders overseas so they can vote in the 2023 general election and allow for the regulated election period to shift if the election date shifts. The change in the Electoral Amendment Bill addressing New Zealanders voting from overseas is due to the challenges so many New Zealanders have faced who are permanent residents and have been unable to return home after the past few years due to COVID-19. While many requirements have been lifted overseas voters still face considerable financial travel health and logistical barriers returning home and we would not want to let this prevent them from participating in the next general election. Temporarily extending the overseas voting from three to six years for citizens and one to four years for permanent residents will uphold the rights of those Kiwis to exercise their democratic rights by voting in the upcoming election.The other point that I'd like to make is the issues that are covered off in the independent review of New Zealand's electoral law. These matters will cover voter eligibility which could also include the consideration of permanent changes to the provision of overseas voters. This will allow for significant permanent changes to our electoral rules and will also be properly reviewed in a more thorough process than a member's bill. We are fully committed to upholding New Zealanders' democratic rights and are already taking steps to strengthen this.It's important that I go over some of the areas that the independent panel will be able to cover. The independent panel is due as I said to report back by the end of November 2023. This review in itself will take two parts: a broader review led over the next 18 months; and targeted changes also ahead of the general election which I've already outlined. This review is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to consider how to make our electoral laws clearer fairer and more accessible.The current bill that we are discussing is attempting to cover the same issues as this review but without the depth and the attention that an independent review can provide especially when it is considered how many issues are lumped together in one bill. A crossover in issues that this bill and review both look at include a number of areas: voting age overseas voting funding of political parties the length of the parliamentary term and the Electoral Commission's recommendations on MMP. A wide-scale review is better suited for ensuring New Zealanders' electoral laws are fit for purpose. The review is an opportunity to take a good and proper look at how we run our elections in New Zealand. Progressing this bill will undermine the opportunity by duplicating the work that the review is undertaking with potentially less attention to detail.It's important that any review of electoral law has broad public and cross-party support. Appointing an independent panel will ensure that the review is fair and impartial. Furthermore a review is more of a thorough process than a member's bill when covering such a broad range of issues that are so fundamental to our democracy and so important as New Zealanders for us to understand.For these reasons an independent review is fit for purpose and a better way to proceed in terms of trying to understand what best changes to make to our electoral law in New Zealand. We are confident that the panel members have the right mix of skills expertise and diverse perspectives to lead this important piece of work. Public engagement will be a really important part of the review so all New Zealanders will have the chance to share their views before the panel makes its recommendations. This bill wants to strengthen New Zealand's democracy but we are already doing so. We would like to have the ability for people to have their comment and to have their say in a wider submissions period than what would be provided through simply a member's bill.The importance of the review being independent is really important. I would like to highlight that maintaining public confidence in elections is critical for democracy and it is that bipartisan support that is important. This review as initially outlined by Minister Faafoi when announced has consulted with all parliamentary party leaders in Parliament and Parliament's Justice Committee on the terms of reference for the review. Consultation also included other groups such as Māori organisations youth organisations universities and the New Zealand Law Society when seeking nominations for potential panel members. It's critical that the review has broad public and cross-party support and appointing an independent panel will ensure it is fair. We are confident that these panel members will do a good job in the area.Labour's position on aspects of electoral reform as already mentioned by the member in charge of the bill has addressed areas that are important to that member. The ban of foreign donations—in June 2022 justice Minister Kiritapu Allan announced changes to electoral law to bring together greater transparency for voters. Changes to electoral law announced by the Minister aimed to support participation in parliamentary elections and improve public trust and confidence in New Zealand's democracy.I would like to conclude by saying that this is an ambitious bill; it raises a lot of important areas but these areas are already being covered either by existing legislation that is before the House presently or those important topics that require an in-depth and more lengthy process that is part of the independent review. While we have a world-class electoral system times are changing and the Electoral Act needs to continue and move with them. It is only proper that we give such an important process the right course. We do not support the bill proceeding.