Simpson Scott: Electoral Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSimpson Scott: Electoral Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 13 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:15936. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): It is a pleasure as chairman of the Justice and Electoral Committee to rise in support of the second reading of the Electoral Amendment Bill in the name of the Minister of Justice the Hon Judith Collins. Other speakers have already indicated that the Justice and Electoral Committee has worked diligently carefully and thoroughly through the select committee process and hearings on the bill and that a very high level of consensus was achieved. In fact unanimity was achieved in terms of the recommendations of the committee for this bill.I am surprised to hear the Labour Party justice spokesperson Andrew Little indicate that Labour members are going to move some amendments because even though he is the justice spokesman he does not sit permanently on the committee and as best as I can recall he was not privy or party to most of the discussions if any that took place in the select committee. So it comes as a surprise to me to now find that the Labour Party is moving down a different pathway after the very good work held in the committee in consideration of the bill.There were 49 submissions. We heard 16 oral submissions and there was a very good level of considered intelligent and articulate debate around the table. I particularly want to thank those who came to submit to us orally because they made some very good points. A number of the changes that we made as a select committee were as a direct result of submissions made. I think that this is an example of how the select committee process works effectively to provide improvements to legislation and create good legislation on the way through.There are just a couple of points that I particularly want to focus on. One was the decision of the committee to recommend the removal of clauses 35 and 36. Those were the clauses that related to streamers ribbons and rosettes and the wearing thereof on election days. I think all around the committee we were of the opinion that the fine and long-held tradition in New Zealand has been that you do not campaign on election day. I suspect that what the committee was seeking to achieve in recommending that a further review of election day activities be looked at in the future was to preserve that sense of tradition about not campaigning on election day but we want to also make sure that there is a practical ability to implement any changes that would protect that tradition and history of not campaigning on election day. The wearing of streamers and showing of ribbons and rosettes and what have you is actually quite a long-held convention in our election process and we decided to recommend that the status quo exist for the meantime but pending a review of election day activities.The previous speaker Andrew Little mentioned our decision to push back on the commission’s enthusiasm for extending the role of those EasyVote cards. We were very much of the view and heard submissions that in fact although administratively easy for the commission there was actually a very real risk of lowering the threshold to voter fraud or potential voter fraud from extending the roll-out for the use of those cards—that it was possible for someone to just turn up front up hand over one of those cards not identify themselves and then be issued with a voting paper. We felt as a committee that that was one step too far and we felt that very strongly. And I have to thank the member from New Zealand First Denis O’Rourke who instigated a suggestion that in fact there be a requirement for verbal identification of voters. It probably comes as a surprise to most New Zealanders that that is not already the case. So we have recommended that there should be a verbal positive identification of voters before a voting paper is issued and I think that is a very good step.I want to counsel the Labour spokesman on justice against seeing shadows where there are none because I suspect listening to the tone and tenor of his speech that thatis in fact exactly what he is doing. This committee worked very hard very long and very diligently on coming to an agreed position on the recommendations for this bill and it now strikes me as a shame that as I say shadows are being seen when there are none and when a good level of consensus has been achieved in the select committee process. I am very pleased to commend this bill to the House in its second reading form as amended with suggestions from the hard-working Justice and Electoral Committee.