Curran ClareHon CLARE CURRAN (Minister of Broadcasting Communications and Digital Media): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. What an extraordinary speech. This is not a Parliament of 120 independents; this is a Parliament based on parliamentary party systems and it's something that we hold dear in our country. I'd like to remind that member that when she was elected in 2008 she was elected because she belonged to a party not because she had some extraordinary set of characteristics that made everybody want to vote for her. If I was the party president listening to that speech I'd be thinking What is her commitment to her party and what is her commitment to the values that underpin her party?" What an extraordinary speech from that member.Not only was that an extraordinary speech for the arrogance of the words that were spoken; it was an extraordinary speech because of the hypocrisy of those words—the hypocrisy of those words—because that party when it was in power spent nine years consistently undermining and eroding democracy. Environment Canterbury—the refusal of that previous Government to have an elected set of members for that regional council. The Southern District Health Board the constant erosion of democracy the lip service paid to the Open Government Partnership the lack of investment in public service broadcasting—just a few tiny examples of nine years of a lack of commitment to democracy.In 1993 when MMP was established when New Zealanders voted in a new system on a referendum to change their voting system from first past the post to mixed-member proportional representation it was the most dramatic change to our electoral system since suffrage. The origins of electoral reform lay in the gradual breakdown in the public trust and confidence in politicians and I want to refer to a measure of public trust and confidence in politicians called the Edelman Trust Barometer which is an internationally recognised measure. It produced a report based on the New Zealand barometer in early 2017 when that party was in Government. It showed a growing lack of trust between the public and institutions including Government where nearly half—47 percent—believed that the system was failing them. They expressed a sense of injustice a lack of hope a lack of confidence and a desire for change.Well they've got change and they've got a Government that is committed to values and committed to the principles of democracy and the principles of proportional representation that New Zealanders voted for in 1993. That previous Government refused to take account of a Law Commission review into MMP refused to countenance making changes which helped to contribute to the eroding public confidence in their Government.So this Government is a progressive Government. This Government is a determined Government. This Government is a Government of values and principles that will uphold democracy; that will have a programme of strengthening democracy. This is the beginning of that programme and for those people listening here today they can be assured that this is not an ad hoc measure. This is the beginning of an ongoing programme of strengthening democracy. This week marks the Government's first 100 days in office. We have delivered what we said we would deliver and those 100 days is a foundation for a wider agenda.I am pleased to support this bill. It does aim to enhance public confidence in the integrity of our electoral system. Over time we have struggled with MMP and what it means and how it adds value to our electoral system. We believe that this bill gives people more confidence in the integrity of our electoral system; that is why it has been introduced. A similar bill was introduced in 2001 because of the issues that undermined democracy and undermined public confidence. That bill was given a five-year course; it had a sunset clause. This bill doesn't and I'm pleased it doesn't.I'm also pleased with the measures that have been included that have made it more robust and that ensure that if there is to be a removal of a member and the member's seat there has to be a 75 percent vote within a caucus to do so. That is robust. That does give the public confidence and I think it does restore some integrity to our electoral system.The criticisms of this bill from the Opposition of it somehow being an affront to democracy are shallow and hollow and they reveal an arrogance of a party that truly does not understand MMP. They demonstrated that when they ignored the Electoral Commission's recommendations to abolish coat-tailing provisions where a minor party gifted an electorate seat by a major party can bring in other unelected MPs on their coat-tails and also by lowering the threshold of votes required to secure a party representation in Parliament to 4 percent of all votes nationwide. Those recommendations were made by the Law Commission; that previous Government completely ignored them. That they have the temerity to get up today and give an exposition to this Parliament on the absolute sanctity of the electorate MP as being somehow more important than the party vote shows a manifest lack of understanding and judgment from that party.An essential component of our MMP system is that it gives voters the ability to decide the proportionate share of seats a political party should receive in Parliament. Political parties represent a set of collective ideas that are agreed to by their members. This is the basis of our political system; it is based on collectivism. It's based on giving confidence to the public that we adhere to a set of values that they're prepared to vote for and when they cast their votes they expect us to uphold those. They expect us to represent them. They expect us to be honest. But they don't expect us to think that we're somehow bigger than that collective set of values and if we do then we should go back to the electorate and ask for a mandate—a mandate. That is the core value of our electoral system. We are not a party of 120 independents. We are a Parliament based on party systems. The fact that that Opposition doesn't get that is perhaps one of the reasons that they're in Opposition.I'm pleased to support this bill. It's a step towards a stronger democracy. It's part of a wider programme to strengthen our democracy to put a value on democracy. I'm pleased to support this bill."