Mark RonHon RON MARK (Minister of Defence): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. It is my duty this evening to rise and support and to continue the support that New Zealand First has lent towards the passage of the Local Electoral Matters Bill. I want to compliment the Justice Committee for the work that it's done on the bill and in particular the chairman Raymond Huo and Ginny Anderson the Hon Maggie Barry Chris Bishop Mark Mitchell Greg O'Connor the Hon Nick Smith and Dr Duncan Webb all participated.I've got to say that the previous speaker who just sat down before me Chris Penk whilst not being on the committee clearly understands the bill very well so I have to congratulate him for the content of his speech. It actually does beg the question as to how much repetition we want to endure this evening because the bill is quite a simple bill. It has clearly got unanimous support of the House as I see it today. The statement the intent of the bill has been very clearly defined by previous speakers; I'm not going to rotary hoe that same paddock again.What I would do is point out—and I think sometimes some recognition needs to be given to the Opposition when they raise their concerns. I note with interest having read the select committee report and read the National Party's minority view—I think actually they raised some valid points in their minority view. I note that the bill provides a mechanism by which local government territorial authorities might experiment or trial other voting methods and the bill specifically allows those councils should they decide to do so to select a subset of a council maybe a ward to trial it. The observation made by the select committee that the consultation process prior to going ahead needs to be complete I think is a valid observation.The observations made that we should not necessarily believe or accept that online voting in itself will increase voter turnout—I look at this bill and if you look at the intent of the bill what it does to me and New Zealand First it strives its best to enhance democracy and to enhance the level of voter participation. We all know from having listened to the second reading speeches and the third reading speeches that preceded mine that there has been a lot of discussion around how we get New Zealand citizens to participate in local body elections. One of the things that's pointed out in the select committee report is that very often in council elections—and I think the example the select committee chose to highlight was Wellington itself—what we are seeing increasingly is local government elections being cluttered by other elections of other bodies be it health boards or liquor licensing bodies as well which in itself creates a bit of a mammoth task for electors to wade their way through these booklets. I've never seen the Auckland one but I shudder to think what it might look like. It's like a volume. The Hon Maggie Barry's just indicating to me that it looks like I could use it to reach the high shelves in the gallery being as vertically challenged as I am—it might be helpful.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I'm with you brother.Hon RON MARK: Thank you the Hon Michael Woodhouse. We share a common affliction. But when one listens to voters the most often heard comment is How do I decide amongst all of these candidates across the range of local bodies that we're required to vote in? How do I pick these people? I don't even know them." That probably explains why if you're a very high-profile New Zealand sportsperson or you know a former politician from central government one has a very high chance of being elected because name recognition is high. It does not necessarily mean to say that one is the best qualified for the appointment or best suited. I have a high degree of empathy with voters who say to me that local government elections are just too cluttered.Now there has been the discussion around going to online voting but I think the Opposition in its minority view is quite correct to point out that that may not necessarily generate the results or fulfil the expectations that we have. It also does rightfully raise the question about the integrity of online voting and one only has to watch the international news and see some of the discussion that's going on in other jurisdictions as to the fears that people have about their elections being interdicted by outside elements through the internet and through digital means. So I think when the Opposition raise those questions they're quite right to do so.I myself have never been a great believer that online voting's going to generate the massive change that people would like to see. Maybe I would like to see that one small council might choose to actually return to the polling booth and create a day of significance like the general election where everybody gets up gets out and goes and casts their vote physically and makes a meaningful decision. I guess making the day a day of significance actually does encourage people. I've looked at as a mayor and a person who's been elected mayor twice and fought how many campaigns I can't remember for central government and for Parliament—[Interruption]—quite a few.I do know that people who cast their vote at local government elections through the post office box get that book. They put it off to one side. It presents them with such a daunting task that they say "Well I'll do that later." and they put it aside. They put it aside and then the day has come and it's gone and it's too late and they haven't cast their vote. Then we sit there and ask ourselves why it is we only get a 48 percent turnout in some territorial authorities.One of the things I'm quite proud of being a person from the provinces myself is that generally—and I'm looking at the former president of Local Government New Zealand Mr Lawrence Yule—in the provinces turnouts in local government elections are very high in comparison to metropolitan New Zealand. Some might unkindly suggest that we do give a damn more than others and we do value our right to exercise our vote in local government. So I'm hopeful that this new mechanism that gives councils the opportunity to experiment to trial different voting mechanisms might well mean they choose to go back to that strange old thing called a polling booth on a particular day where everybody understands the significance and gets themselves up and goes and casts their vote physically—but I might be asking too much.I think the bill is a useful addition. It addresses a number of issues that the select committee has debated well and recorded their view on. Whether it's the context for changes to enabling local authorities to access the age cohort and the Māori descent information whether it's the methodology around trialling different election systems it all adds and enhances democracy as I see it and let's just see how it rolls out on the next day. I'm actually waiting to hear which is the first territorial authority that's going to give it a crack so to speak and trial a different mechanism. New Zealand First supports this bill and recommends it to the House."