July 26, 2025 • 12 mins
A suite of Electoral Act changes were announced this week, and same-day enrolments are set to be scrapped.
Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour caused some upset when he dropped the word 'drop-kick' into the conversation.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'd be A suite of electoral act changes were announced
this week and same day election enrollments are set to
be scrapped on election day. By the way, one hundred
and ten thousand people the last one in twenty twenty three,
one hundred and ten thousand people enrolled or updated their
details and Deputy Prime Minister David Sima he upset a
few people when he dropped the word dropkicks into the
conversation for those who can't get themselves organized to follow
(00:32):
the law, I think was the way he put it.
It's been that was met with a bit of a
backlash by many in the electoral law announcement, but a
lot of ooters also seemed to agree with David Seymour,
the Deputy Prime Minister. Who's with me now, David, good afternoon,
Good afternoon, What was the chief mischief that you were
trying to address with this reform.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It's very important that the electoral role was established and
published ahead of time because that allows people who are
campaigning to actually know who they are campaigning to and
critically allows people, if they want to to check that
the role is correct, and that the people rarely exist.
And in the past people have actually gone around with
(01:16):
the copy of the electoral role, knocked on doors and
found that actually lots of people that were said to
exist at a particular address weren't there. That's happened in
our not too distant past here in New Zealand, and
I think it's really critical that we actually have a
published role that everyone can see so our elections are
(01:38):
transparent and have integrity. Because it's not so long ago,
but you know, we had a great democracy the United States,
where significant numbers of Americans believe that the election is
not legitimate. You look at what's happened at the Mariah
in Auckland here. You know, these kinds of things erode
(02:00):
our faith in our electoral system and we can't afford
that so many people have fought too hard to have it.
If all it takes is for someone to actually follow
the law, and it is a legal requirement. You have
to be registered to vote. You don't have to vote
like they do in Australia, but you do have to
be registered to vote, and if you're not doing that
(02:20):
then actually you're breaking the law. It's not hard. They
make it as easy as possible for you. You have
three years to do it, and people are saying, oh,
it's just too hard. I can't do that. I don't
care what it means for the integrity of the election,
how much it delays the count. I'm just going to
rock up at the last possible minute because it's convenient
(02:42):
for me, and I just think at some point, you know,
people like me want to live in a democracy. It's
not so much to ask that people take a bit
of responsibility to go with that. Right.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
How much will it make a difference in terms of
how quickly can we can deliver election results? Because the
specials do cause a drag, don't they?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, look at it might save a week or two.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So that's not a then well for me.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
For me, there's a there's a more more important principle
at stake, and it's that we seem to have an
epidemic of helplessness that the government has to solve every
problem and make everything so easy or poor help to
actually do anything. Now, you know, I don't think it's
a crazy thing that if Australians have to register a
(03:28):
month ahead of time, so if you look at their
election this year, they had an election on May three.
Their electoral role closed four weeks before that on April seven.
You know, I don't think it's a big thing to say. Look, actually,
part of living in a democracy which is pretty good
and a lot of people are the order literally fighting
for it is that you have to follow the law
(03:49):
and update your details on the electoral role. I mean,
ausies can do it four weeks out, why can't we.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Look Just to clarify the drop kick remark, because my producer,
my producer, Tire enrolled on the data vote and she
was like, I don't think I'm a drop kick, So
who are you referring to? So I know that these
things can go through several iterations. You drop the headline
sort of word, and then apparently everyone says you've accused
them of being a drop kicks. What was your comment
around that.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Well, I think it is dropkick behavior. I mean there
are certainly I don't know why Tyra didn't enroll. There
are some people who have just arrived in the country,
have been overseas that there are some people who have
contacted me in the last few days to say that
they did everything right, but when they showed up their
name wasn't there. Well, that's actually a fault of the
Electoral Commission, But no, frankly, it was the greatest of
(04:37):
respects of Tyra, and I'm sure it was a wonderful
person in many respects. It's a pretty simple thing. You
just have to once every three years make sure that
you're up to date and you get to live in
a democracy. It's not too much.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And I thought you were going to say because it
was for those who were objecting to the change or something,
because she was only eighteen I think when she literally
turned eighteen, I think the day before.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
So yeah, well, yeah, sure, but that's an exception where okay,
if you've only just turned eighteen, how could you have
registered before. But we've had four hundred thousand people enrolled
in the last two weeks. One hundred and ten thousand
people are roll right on the day. Now, you can't
tell me that there's one hundred and ten thousand people
who just turned eighteen the week before the election. You
(05:22):
can't say there's one hundred and ten thousand people who
just got back into the country the day of the election.
And you can't say that the Electoral Commission lost one
hundred and ten thousand people's records of it. If they did,
we've got a much, much bigger problem that we should
certainly get onto.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Hey what about people who say that this has just
happened to be very convenient because special votes favor the left,
so you're skewing things to the right.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, people can make their assumption, but actually, I don't
believe that it's necessarily true that people who vote left
are less responsible or less committed to a democracy. The
simple question here is do you believe that if this
country is going to overcome its troubles and actually achieve
the things that we want to achieve as a country,
(06:08):
that everyone has to pitch in and make a bit
of an effort, because the alternative is, over the last
twenty years, we've brought into this epidemic of helplessness where
we've said, oh, it's essential that people vote. We've got
to keep making it easier. You know, you don't have
to show ideas, show up at the last minute. We'll
you know, we'll let you vote no matter what. Well, actually,
you know what, you're wielding great power. You're electing people
(06:31):
who then have the power to tax, the power to regulate,
the power to interfere in your basic liberties. And if
you're going to wield that sort of power, don't you
think it would be worth taking just a little bit
of responsibility and at least bothering. I mean, we're not
expecting you to actually, you know, research who you're voting
for or anything, just actually be registered ahead of time.
(06:53):
What about a good stuff?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
I mean, how many people do you think it will affect?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Of course, you know, one hundred and ten thousand people
were either changing their details or enrolling, but that's because
the law allowed them to. If the law has changed,
you expect that same number of people not to be
voting or And what's advice have you received in that regard?
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Well, I expect that people will change their behavior to
fit the law. I mean, I suspect most people will saying, Okay,
now I get this. It's important to have the electoral
role closed and recorded and scrutinizable before the voting starts.
That makes sense. I'm going to pay my part. If
(07:33):
there are people who don't want to do that, I mean,
most people are in the drop kick category, and you've
got to ask themselves, ask yourself if theyk here So
a little about our country and our democracy. That they
can't even make that level of effort, then you know,
maybe they're not the most conscientious voters in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
What about your response to comments such and such Labour's
Duncan webs with Green Cillia Wade Brown their editory boards,
calling the rhetoric elitist, anti democratic and disrespectful, particularly towards
marginalized communities.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, again, they're welcome to say that because they entitled
to free speech. But I just asked them a simple question.
Do they really believe that it is elitist to expect
people to carry out a very basic civil duty of
making sure your details are up to date on the
electoral role. I wouldn't have thought that that was a
(08:29):
particularly elitist thing. If only the elites in New Zealand
are capable of doing that, then we've got a big problem.
If so called marginalized communities are not capable of doing that,
then we've got a real problem. And heaven forbid that
people also have an obligation to enroll their children in school,
(08:49):
you know, maintain health, pay the bills. I mean, you
have to wonder how all these people are functioning in
society if they really think that signing up for the
electoral role is some sort of elitist ploy that marginalizes
marginalized communities.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
What about is there potential modernization on the way we
can just make enrolling, say if the if you know,
people are saying it's they're worrying about having a couple
of weeks less to enroll. But in terms of just
educating people on the dates, making it as easy as possible,
are there any innovations that are necessary to contribute towards
(09:25):
the accessibility forgetting dates and all that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Well, I mean, I think it's worth just I mean maybe,
but let's just first of all, look at how easy
it is right now. You know, we've got this Orange
Man cartoon. You can't avoid it. He's all over the place.
You've got people at the universities with clipboards, you know,
You've got people in the shopping malls with little desks
(09:49):
and kiosks. You've got a website where you can go
on and it literally takes you a minute to type
in your name and address. I mean a few weeks
later they post you something and you've got to confirm
that you've actually got it, to prove that you're here.
I mean this, you know, I just sort of look
at what it takes to live in New Zealand in
(10:11):
twenty twenty five, this is not really the hardest task
to find out about or do. No.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Just lastly, the treating does a sausage roll outside of
the polling station really influence anyone's vote? What are you
trying to address there?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Well, I mean, first of all, it's kind of one
of those things that you say, well, surely a sausage
role couldn't influence anyone's vote. Okay, then you know, let's
just not do it, to be really sure, let's not
do it anyway. If it does influence someone's vote, then
we shouldn't do it. So either way, you know, there's
not much of a case for allowing it. On the
(10:47):
other hand, a lot of what matters for elections, it's
almost you know, obviously it's important that elections are properly
done and free and fear, but it's almost as important,
if not more important, that people think that they're free
and fair. You could have a perfect election that if
people don't believe it, then it undermines the legitacy of
(11:08):
the government, and people say, why should I follow the law?
And the whole society can fall apart and has done.
I mean, you know, we take a lot for granted
in New Zealand and we're very lucky in this country,
but these things can go wrong. Now, you know, if
it's not influencing the voting, but it has the effects
of making people think that the election is subject to
(11:32):
bribery or corruption, then that doesn't help either. So it's
partly about reality, it's partly about perception, and the truth
is that when it comes to electoral integrity, they both matter.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Right. Well, Hey, good luck and thanks for your time.
David really appreciate this afternoon, and that is David simoa Akpayasu.
Yeah and yeah, thanks very much and definitely Prime Minister
as I said.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News Talks'
Be weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'd be A suite of electoral act changes were announced
this week and same day election enrollments are set to
be scrapped on election day. By the way, one hundred
and ten thousand people the last one in twenty twenty three,
one hundred and ten thousand people enrolled or updated their
details and Deputy Prime Minister David Sima he upset a
few people when he dropped the word dropkicks into the
conversation for those who can't get themselves organized to follow
(00:32):
the law, I think was the way he put it.
It's been that was met with a bit of a
backlash by many in the electoral law announcement, but a
lot of ooters also seemed to agree with David Seymour,
the Deputy Prime Minister. Who's with me now, David, good afternoon,
Good afternoon, What was the chief mischief that you were
trying to address with this reform.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It's very important that the electoral role was established and
published ahead of time because that allows people who are
campaigning to actually know who they are campaigning to and
critically allows people, if they want to to check that
the role is correct, and that the people rarely exist.
And in the past people have actually gone around with
(01:16):
the copy of the electoral role, knocked on doors and
found that actually lots of people that were said to
exist at a particular address weren't there. That's happened in
our not too distant past here in New Zealand, and
I think it's really critical that we actually have a
published role that everyone can see so our elections are
(01:38):
transparent and have integrity. Because it's not so long ago,
but you know, we had a great democracy the United States,
where significant numbers of Americans believe that the election is
not legitimate. You look at what's happened at the Mariah
in Auckland here. You know, these kinds of things erode
(02:00):
our faith in our electoral system and we can't afford
that so many people have fought too hard to have it.
If all it takes is for someone to actually follow
the law, and it is a legal requirement. You have
to be registered to vote. You don't have to vote
like they do in Australia, but you do have to
be registered to vote, and if you're not doing that
(02:20):
then actually you're breaking the law. It's not hard. They
make it as easy as possible for you. You have
three years to do it, and people are saying, oh,
it's just too hard. I can't do that. I don't
care what it means for the integrity of the election,
how much it delays the count. I'm just going to
rock up at the last possible minute because it's convenient
(02:42):
for me, and I just think at some point, you know,
people like me want to live in a democracy. It's
not so much to ask that people take a bit
of responsibility to go with that. Right.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
How much will it make a difference in terms of
how quickly can we can deliver election results? Because the
specials do cause a drag, don't they?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, look at it might save a week or two.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
So that's not a then well for me.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
For me, there's a there's a more more important principle
at stake, and it's that we seem to have an
epidemic of helplessness that the government has to solve every
problem and make everything so easy or poor help to
actually do anything. Now, you know, I don't think it's
a crazy thing that if Australians have to register a
(03:28):
month ahead of time, so if you look at their
election this year, they had an election on May three.
Their electoral role closed four weeks before that on April seven.
You know, I don't think it's a big thing to say. Look, actually,
part of living in a democracy which is pretty good
and a lot of people are the order literally fighting
for it is that you have to follow the law
(03:49):
and update your details on the electoral role. I mean,
ausies can do it four weeks out, why can't we.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Look Just to clarify the drop kick remark, because my producer,
my producer, Tire enrolled on the data vote and she
was like, I don't think I'm a drop kick, So
who are you referring to? So I know that these
things can go through several iterations. You drop the headline
sort of word, and then apparently everyone says you've accused
them of being a drop kicks. What was your comment
around that.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Well, I think it is dropkick behavior. I mean there
are certainly I don't know why Tyra didn't enroll. There
are some people who have just arrived in the country,
have been overseas that there are some people who have
contacted me in the last few days to say that
they did everything right, but when they showed up their
name wasn't there. Well, that's actually a fault of the
Electoral Commission, But no, frankly, it was the greatest of
(04:37):
respects of Tyra, and I'm sure it was a wonderful
person in many respects. It's a pretty simple thing. You
just have to once every three years make sure that
you're up to date and you get to live in
a democracy. It's not too much.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And I thought you were going to say because it
was for those who were objecting to the change or something,
because she was only eighteen I think when she literally
turned eighteen, I think the day before.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
So yeah, well, yeah, sure, but that's an exception where okay,
if you've only just turned eighteen, how could you have
registered before. But we've had four hundred thousand people enrolled
in the last two weeks. One hundred and ten thousand
people are roll right on the day. Now, you can't
tell me that there's one hundred and ten thousand people
who just turned eighteen the week before the election. You
(05:22):
can't say there's one hundred and ten thousand people who
just got back into the country the day of the election.
And you can't say that the Electoral Commission lost one
hundred and ten thousand people's records of it. If they did,
we've got a much, much bigger problem that we should
certainly get onto.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Hey what about people who say that this has just
happened to be very convenient because special votes favor the left,
so you're skewing things to the right.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, people can make their assumption, but actually, I don't
believe that it's necessarily true that people who vote left
are less responsible or less committed to a democracy. The
simple question here is do you believe that if this
country is going to overcome its troubles and actually achieve
the things that we want to achieve as a country,
(06:08):
that everyone has to pitch in and make a bit
of an effort, because the alternative is, over the last
twenty years, we've brought into this epidemic of helplessness where
we've said, oh, it's essential that people vote. We've got
to keep making it easier. You know, you don't have
to show ideas, show up at the last minute. We'll
you know, we'll let you vote no matter what. Well, actually,
you know what, you're wielding great power. You're electing people
(06:31):
who then have the power to tax, the power to regulate,
the power to interfere in your basic liberties. And if
you're going to wield that sort of power, don't you
think it would be worth taking just a little bit
of responsibility and at least bothering. I mean, we're not
expecting you to actually, you know, research who you're voting
for or anything, just actually be registered ahead of time.
(06:53):
What about a good stuff?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
I mean, how many people do you think it will affect?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Of course, you know, one hundred and ten thousand people
were either changing their details or enrolling, but that's because
the law allowed them to. If the law has changed,
you expect that same number of people not to be
voting or And what's advice have you received in that regard?
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Well, I expect that people will change their behavior to
fit the law. I mean, I suspect most people will saying, Okay,
now I get this. It's important to have the electoral
role closed and recorded and scrutinizable before the voting starts.
That makes sense. I'm going to pay my part. If
(07:33):
there are people who don't want to do that, I mean,
most people are in the drop kick category, and you've
got to ask themselves, ask yourself if theyk here So
a little about our country and our democracy. That they
can't even make that level of effort, then you know,
maybe they're not the most conscientious voters in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
What about your response to comments such and such Labour's
Duncan webs with Green Cillia Wade Brown their editory boards,
calling the rhetoric elitist, anti democratic and disrespectful, particularly towards
marginalized communities.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, again, they're welcome to say that because they entitled
to free speech. But I just asked them a simple question.
Do they really believe that it is elitist to expect
people to carry out a very basic civil duty of
making sure your details are up to date on the
electoral role. I wouldn't have thought that that was a
(08:29):
particularly elitist thing. If only the elites in New Zealand
are capable of doing that, then we've got a big problem.
If so called marginalized communities are not capable of doing that,
then we've got a real problem. And heaven forbid that
people also have an obligation to enroll their children in school,
(08:49):
you know, maintain health, pay the bills. I mean, you
have to wonder how all these people are functioning in
society if they really think that signing up for the
electoral role is some sort of elitist ploy that marginalizes
marginalized communities.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
What about is there potential modernization on the way we
can just make enrolling, say if the if you know,
people are saying it's they're worrying about having a couple
of weeks less to enroll. But in terms of just
educating people on the dates, making it as easy as possible,
are there any innovations that are necessary to contribute towards
(09:25):
the accessibility forgetting dates and all that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Well, I mean, I think it's worth just I mean maybe,
but let's just first of all, look at how easy
it is right now. You know, we've got this Orange
Man cartoon. You can't avoid it. He's all over the place.
You've got people at the universities with clipboards, you know,
You've got people in the shopping malls with little desks
(09:49):
and kiosks. You've got a website where you can go
on and it literally takes you a minute to type
in your name and address. I mean a few weeks
later they post you something and you've got to confirm
that you've actually got it, to prove that you're here.
I mean this, you know, I just sort of look
at what it takes to live in New Zealand in
(10:11):
twenty twenty five, this is not really the hardest task
to find out about or do. No.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Just lastly, the treating does a sausage roll outside of
the polling station really influence anyone's vote? What are you
trying to address there?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Well, I mean, first of all, it's kind of one
of those things that you say, well, surely a sausage
role couldn't influence anyone's vote. Okay, then you know, let's
just not do it, to be really sure, let's not
do it anyway. If it does influence someone's vote, then
we shouldn't do it. So either way, you know, there's
not much of a case for allowing it. On the
(10:47):
other hand, a lot of what matters for elections, it's
almost you know, obviously it's important that elections are properly
done and free and fear, but it's almost as important,
if not more important, that people think that they're free
and fair. You could have a perfect election that if
people don't believe it, then it undermines the legitacy of
(11:08):
the government, and people say, why should I follow the law?
And the whole society can fall apart and has done.
I mean, you know, we take a lot for granted
in New Zealand and we're very lucky in this country,
but these things can go wrong. Now, you know, if
it's not influencing the voting, but it has the effects
of making people think that the election is subject to
(11:32):
bribery or corruption, then that doesn't help either. So it's
partly about reality, it's partly about perception, and the truth
is that when it comes to electoral integrity, they both matter.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Right. Well, Hey, good luck and thanks for your time.
David really appreciate this afternoon, and that is David simoa Akpayasu.
Yeah and yeah, thanks very much and definitely Prime Minister
as I said.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News Talks'
Be weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.