Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on the Government's new voting rules passing their first reading

A suite of new voting rules has passed its first reading in the House - 68 to 54.

Changes include moves to ban same-day enrolment. 

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says the bill overhauls outdated and unsustainable electoral laws.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says there'll be plenty of advertising ahead of the next election - and people shouldn't be enrolling to vote on the day.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barrisoper, Senior Political Correspondence. Yeah, hello Barren, Good afternoon. Okay,
so the electoral law changes have been passed first reading
off to the select Committee.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (00:07):
And the interesting thing is they will be reported back
by December beginning of December, which means they'll be in
place for the next election. Now you can imagine there
was a lot of heated debate about this, that people
being disenfranchised, people losing the right to vote. I mean,
it's absolutely absurd. The rules are going to be out

(00:28):
there quite clear. In Australia, for example, twenty six days
they have they have to be enrolled before an election.
Here we've cut it down to thirteen, even though before
that they could enroll on election day. As we all
know now, the sponsor of the bill and mending the
electoral law is, of course the Justice min is to
Paul Goldsmith, who had what he saw was an explanation

(00:54):
as to why around one hundred thousand people enrolled on
election day the last time round to vote. Only day
that is following him was Labour's duncan wheb they are.

Speaker 4 (01:04):
We had the Electoral Commission on one hand saying with
one message saying get and rolled, Get and rolled, and
they're funded with many millions of dollars to encourage people
to enroll, which the law says you should do. But
on the other hand, they were also saying, but by
the way, you don't bother because you can just rock
up on election day and vote. And more people heard
the second message than heard the first message, and as
a result, more and more people were turning up and

(01:26):
enrolling when they voted.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
You know, it's a dark day for democracy. What's Christopher
Lutson doing? He is making it harder for people to vote.
It's shameful, It's absolutely shameful. He was to stop people enrolling,
stop all those people exercising their vote.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, it's absurd to say that they're stopping people from enrolling.
They're trying to enlighten people, to get them put their
thinking caps on when it comes to an election and
get out and enroll. It's not that hard. So who
are those people who turned out on election day last
time round to vote and enroll? Well, the Green's co

(02:07):
leader Madam Davidson seems to think she knows. She outlined
in a question to the Primes.

Speaker 5 (02:12):
Should renters young people, Mary Asian and pacifica communities be
afforded less access to democracy just because they are more
likely to need to cast a special vote.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
I think all New Zealanders are quite capable of getting
registered two weeks out from an election, and I think
they would be insulting to suggest otherwise.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, and I totally agree. I mean, there's going to
be an advertising bullitz in the lead up to the
next election, as there is at every election. And if
people don't know that an election's on and think they
can turn up on the day and enroll, I've never
done it in my life, and I voted many, many
times in elections. Okay, sorry, it's quite a hot one

(02:56):
for me.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
I don't understand why.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Well, it just gets up my nose when there's these
absurd claims by people that are meant to know something
about the electoral system, like Duncan Webb, who's an academic,
to say that they're being robbed of the right to vote.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Well, I mean the very least being slightly frustrated. I mean,
we are to be fair, going.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
Bay Bazy, don't get off going.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Back thirty two years in time, right, The last time
you had to do this two weeks in advance was
nineteen ninety three bearing.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Oh isn't that terrible? Oh you are oh.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Just for you are so frustrating on this. It's not
even that big deal anyway. Listen, government's doing the right thing,
aren't they, with the with the board members pay well.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
It's the old story, isn't it. You pay peanuts, you
get monkey. And you only have to look at the
New Zealand Health Board to understand that when Lester Levy
had to be brought and they were spending more than
over spending more than one hundred and thirty million dollars
a week. So Lester Leavy was brought in to try
and bring it right. But you know you've got if
you want to pay, if you want the public service

(04:03):
to run well, and these are state sector companies that
are being run, you've got to be able to pay them,
not as much maybe as the private sector. But i'll
tell you what, everybody's got terribly excited about this. No
one was excited when it was announced last last November
by Paul Goldsmith. He put out a statement he said

(04:27):
that look, they'll be bringing director fees to twenty two
Crown old owned companies closer to the market rate. And
then he said they will be up to eighty to
ninety percent of the private rate. Now, if people didn't
read that, sorry, they had plenty of notice.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yet again, Lord, whatever you've taken today, you need to
just half the dose.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Half the dose. Were even a sleep in this country?
Oh wow?

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Okay, very sober, Senior political correspondent.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
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