Flavell Te Ururoa: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7460] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Kia ora ano tatou katoa. Parliament is one of the very few structures in our society that is inhabited by people who truly believe that elections in and of themselves make a crucial differences in our lives. I am reminded of a comment made by a person by the name of James Freeman Clarke. He said: “A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman of the next generation.” The Maori Party supports the latter school of thought—that the future of our people can be greatly improved by the opportunity we can provide for them to participate in our democracy. 
We come to this Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill and we consider how the various legislative amendments to be introduced will impact positively on the future prospects of New Zealanders. We absolutely welcome the move to get the electoral shop in order to reduce the duplication of functions and to get rid of the confusion regarding costs and complexities for political parties candidates and the general public. We do so for reasons that come from very recent history. Administrative issues arose on election day in 2005 for voters on the Maori roll. Those issues arose in 2008 as well. The issues included an insufficient number of Maori roll voting papers and a lack of Maori roll data at some polling booths. Both issues would have been extremely easy to rectify yet a lack of information had the immediate and adverse impact of compromising the rights of individual Maori to vote. 
In the inquiry into the 2005 elections the Justice and Electoral Committee drew attention to the issues raised by the Maori Party. The select committee concluded that although the problems outlined were isolated they should have been avoided. We tabled three major issues with the committee. Firstly there was a lack of or an inadequate supply of ballot papers. In the Te Tai Tokerau electorate voting papers ran out in several polling places by mid-afternoon on polling day. In the Tamaki Makaurau electorate voting papers were not available in some polling places in the South Auckland area until about 10.30 or 11 a.m. I recall that one of the worst-affected areas in the north had a problem as a result of a large influx of people being in the area to attend a tangihanga. Those people had every right to be able to register their vote yet many were turned away due to the lack of papers. They chose not to return and take up their voting entitlement because of the lengthy delays experienced in waiting for the new ballot papers to become available. 
The second issue was to do with reports that Maori electoral rolls were unavailable in some polling places in the Manurewa area in the Tamaki Makaurau electorate until midway through the morning. That is another issue that needs some attention. The third issue was that electorate votes were disallowed because incorrect voting papers were issued. In some cases the electorate vote was disallowed and only the party vote was counted. In addition to these issues concerns were raised about others such as the incorrect pronunciation of Maori names by issuing officers in polling places and reported incidents of voters being confused about whether they were on the Maori roll or the general roll. It is well known that those administrative errors were not large enough to have an impact on the voting outcomes. In Tamaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau Dr Pita Sharples and Hone Harawira achieved resounding victories despite the problems with the paperwork but the issues give a particular edge to the need for the Government to review its organisation and resourcing of polling places. 
We believe that all polling places must have sufficient supplies and trained staff to cope with the demands that they may face on polling day and this is of particular importance for voters on the Maori roll. In thinking of the bigger picture outside that one election day in 2005 we are concerned that the democratic entitlement of some Maori constituents was compromised and therefore future voting practices may be affected. We believe that the overhaul of both the Electoral Act 1993 and the electoral administrative regime is both timely and in the long-term interests of the nation. It is also in line with our policy position which supports the call for a single administrative body for elections. Reviews have indicated there a need for the creation of a single administrative body for elections and the benefits that would come from having such a body. As the House has already heard the responsibility for electoral administration is currently split between the Chief Electoral Officer who works under the Ministry of Justice the Electoral Commission which is an independent Crown entity and the Chief Registrar of Electors who works through the enrolment centre a business unit of New Zealand Post Ltd. Although the distinctions between the roles are clear the overriding public perception is that this is an overly complex and complicated way of allowing the voting process to take place. 
This proposal which is intended to provide a better service to voters candidates and parties is an idea that has been some years in the making. In 2001 the Election Framework Taskforce conducted a comprehensive review of the electoral agency arrangements and recommended that a single electoral agency be given overarching responsibility for electoral administration along with mandated statutory independence. Therefore we are extremely supportive of the intention to amend the Electoral Act 1993 and the Crown Entities Act 2004 in order to create a new independent Crown entity and Electoral Commission. We are interested in how we can ensure that long-term outcomes will be achieved through the efficient operations of the electoral administration functions of the Chief Electoral Officer and the current Electoral Commission. 
I will share with the House a particular matter of relevance not just for the Maori Party but more broadly for the representation of Maori throughout this nation. In structural terms the bill merges the Chief Electoral Office and the current Electoral Commission with a projected cost saving to the Government of 3.19 percent expected from the bill. This is all very positive and we welcome the views of the public through the select committee process. However we do not want the review to focus on the administration and structures of our political system without considering a far more comprehensive look into electoral law. Any reform of electoral law should be preceded by consultation with the public. 
For the Maori Party the focus is on increasing Maori electoral participation including a review of the Maori electoral option and in particular timing constraints. We believe that electoral representation in a democracy not only is a basic human right but also enables our nation to move forward together. Some of the issues that we consider to be useful for public feedback are particularly located around the issue of Maori electoral participation. We would be interested in the views of New Zealanders about the decisions to be identified on either the general roll or the Maori roll. We believe that all New Zealanders should be automatically entered on to the general roll at 18 years of age or if Maori entered on to the Maori roll with the option to transfer to the general roll. We are interested in the views of whanau hapu and iwi on whether electoral rolls should also identify constituents on the basis of iwi and hapu. Such a process could assist tribal development planning and the maintenance of identity. 
We welcome the feedback of Maori as to whether the Government should also extend the provision in the census for people to identify tribally to electoral roll where tribal affiliations are also stated. Finally but not insignificantly we will be interested in the feedback about a proposal to amend section 45 of the Electoral Act in order for it to be consistent with section 35 of that Act meaning that no Maori electoral district shall be situated partially in the North Island and partially in the South Island. This has particular relevance for my colleague Rahui Katene as it will mean in effect that the voters on the Maori roll would be treated equally with voters on the general roll in that voters living in the South Island would not need to be merged with voters living in the North Island. 
Those are just a few of the issues that we look forward to hearing from the public on during the select committee process. We recognise that a move to a single body will be an enormous task and it will not be easily achieved without the risk of some disruption to elections. We also acknowledge the high quality of the advice from the officials and the outcomes that have been evident in the current arrangements. As we move our eyes to the next generation we say that it is about time to review the current system. Therefore we support this bill at its very first reading.