Borrows Chester: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Borrows Chester: Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7454] 
CHESTER BORROWS (National—Whanganui) 
: 
 As I am sure the previous speaker David Parker will agree the Justice and Electoral Committee is looking forward to having the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill come before it. The committee has a great mix of wise and sage counsel and youthful vibrancy and enthusiasm from members such as Paul Quinn Kennedy Graham and Simon Bridges—I do not know which pigeon-hole he fits into. The committee is looking forward to having this legislation before it. It will be interesting too to be part of a consultative process in respect of electoral matters which is a novel approach. It is something that we did not experience so much under the previous administration. I can give an indication to the committee and to Parliament at large that it will not be a case of the chair saying: “We’ve got the numbers so we’ll just stick it to the vote and we won’t have any further discussion on it.” Committee members will enter into a debate around the table and with the submitters who come before us. 
It is true to say that the threefold electoral process watchdogs that we have within our electoral system at the moment have been messy to deal with. It has been suggested for many years—in fact for about 25 years—that they should be amalgamated into one. Although that task has been put off by successive Governments it is good to see that the three agencies will be brought together as a result of the suggestions of the 2001 Election Framework Taskforce. It conducted a comprehensive review of the arrangements and recommended a single agency. 
The taskforce recognised four basic flaws. The public candidates and parties were confused and remain confused over where and how to access electoral information services and advice and this contributes to additional compliance costs. There is no natural coordination of effort in the system and it succeeds only through the considerable time and work the three agencies put into coordinating their activities. But so often they overlap and there is an expense to the taxpayer. Thirdly there is the difficulty of coordinating decision making which hinders organisational development including the use of technology. In our review of the 2008 election there appeared to be the opportunity to use technology in many ways in coming years that will see ease of use for the average voter especially for those New Zealanders who are overseas and a much quicker ability to get election results. Fourthly there was no overview of the electoral sector’s performance and priorities. Although for instance the Justice and Electoral Committee is charged with and always has been reviewing elections in the year following a general election those reviews tend to be a little staccato in that three different organisations come before the committee. There needs to be a far more coordinated approach. 
Those issues will be addressed in a single agency that is being created—the new Electoral Commission. This body will have significant responsibility performing all the functions of the Chief Electoral Officer and the Electoral Commission. It will be an independent Crown entity to ensure independence accountability effective discharge of duties organisation capacity cost effectiveness and easy implementation. The board will have three members who will be appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice following consultation with the leaders of the political parties represented in Parliament. 
The previous speaker made a lot about campaign donations and transparency. This Government is happy for transparency in those issues and we are pleased to be supported by Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition now that Labour members find themselves sitting on that side of the House. We would like to have a lot more transparency and that was what National was pushing for when it was in Opposition several months ago. I commend the bill to the House.