Barnett Tim: Electoral Matters Bill — First Reading 
Barnett Tim: Electoral Matters Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:618;Page:14202] 
TIM BARNETT (Labour—Christchurch Central) 
: 
 I am happy to follow on from Lindsay Tisch and I welcome the fact that on a lot of electoral issues we actually manage to get some level of unanimity around this House. However in terms of this legislation I have to say it is great to see a Government prepared to tackle some of the issues that others saw as either too hard or too complicated and that for years sat as administrative burdens on the Electoral Commission—and indeed sat as legislation on the Order Paper prior to the last election. I am glad they will now finally be dealt with in what I expect to be a reasonably uncontroversial piece of legislation. 
We are developing what I think is a really healthy cycle in Parliament whereby a review of the election is held by the Justice and Electoral Committee after each election. This is the second time that a number of recommendations that arose out of the select committee report have gone forward to become legislation that is passed in time for the next election. The focus between 1999 and 2002 was on electoral administration issues. There were I believe 87 reforms to the way in which the election was administered in 2002 compared with in 1999. The general view of the select committee was that the 2002 election ran a lot more smoothly. 
This time the issues in a sense as Lindsay Tisch pointed out are more major and more mundane. This bill deals with the mundane side of things in the sense that quite a number of the aspects of the broadcasting regime are complicated are anomalous and could conceivably lead to the Electoral Commission being in a really awkward position if a combination of circumstances arose. I think the passing of this bill which hopefully will be improved by the select committee will actually be a way to ensure that the commission can manage most effectively any risk it has for the election next year. 
 But there are a number of major issues that the Justice and Electoral Committee inquiry touched on that do require more fundamental examination. One problem with the 3-year cycle is that by the time the select committee which is doing lots of other business has dealt with the matters around the last election and produced a report and that report has been considered by the Government which might produce a bill we are within 12 to 18 months of the next election. It is very hard to have fundamental debate on issues completed in that time and have measures in place for the next election. 
The unique thing that has happened this time is that the report of the select committee into the election as well as dealing with a lot of the detailed broadcasting matters that are contained in this bill has also raised the fundamentals which for a long time—even for too long—have been the subject of partial debate. These are the issues of donation transparency and State funding of party administration. We already have State funding of ongoing party communication through leaders’ allocations and we already have State funding of broadcasting which is obviously relevant to what is in this bill. But the issue of State funding of administration which was referred to in the Royal Commission on the Electoral System in the 1980s is unfinished business. In my mind our finishing it will help to mature our whole electoral and political system as MMP starts to bed in. We need to have that debate. 
What is interesting in terms of the debate in the select committee is that I think there is now general acceptance that there are issues that need to be covered. By beginning that review before hopefully the election next year we will actually be in a position to report back and to put in place any amendments resulting from it before the 2008 election. 
The other issues that need to be covered by that review process comprise a lot of the other anomalies that are appearing in the Electoral Act. I think the citizenship matter is a very good example. It was a fishhook that no one had foreseen; issues arose the Government had to deal quickly with a situation and it was dealt with quickly. It took up the time of the House and it took up a lot of political energy on all sides. What we do not want—and I think it is a statement about our democracy not a statement about who is in power at the time—is for those kinds of issues to keep arising. By having this legislation which deals with that citizenship anomaly but also with the commitment by the Government to look at the concept of a select committee - led review of the Electoral Act that reports back in time for reforms to be in place for the 2008 election I think we now have general consensus on the select committee between parties that that process is necessary. 
In the meantime the Electoral Matters Bill has some urgency attached to it because we have to get it back in time for changes to be made. I am sure the select committee with the permission of the House to meet while the House is sitting will be able to manage that business comfortably partly because we already undertook a consultation cycle on these matters only about a year ago and I cannot imagine there are many agencies with new comments to make about these issues. So essentially the bill is non-controversial legislation. It reduces the risk attached to the administration of the election next year. I believe that its passage will be straightforward and I believe that our select committee will do the job very well. On the basis of that I would like to commend the bill to the House.