Appointments — Electoral Commission

I move, That, pursuant to section 4D of the Electoral Act 1993 and section 32 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, this House recommend His Excellency the Governor-General appoint Hon Justice Sir John Hugh Williams as Chair of the Electoral Commission for a term of three years and Mr Robert Andrew Peden as Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission for a term of five years.

The Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act passed by the House in May amended the Electoral Act 1993 to establish a new Electoral Commission. The commission is an independent Crown entity that will bring together functions currently spread across several electoral agencies, and it will be responsible for conducting all parliamentary elections, by-elections, and referenda, and for the registration of political parties.

From 1 October 2010 the new commission will take over the functions of the present Electoral Commission and Chief Electoral Office. The new commission will provide public information programmes and advice on electoral matters, and it will report to the Minister of Justice and the House of Representatives after each general election, and at other times as it sees fit. The new commission will have a board of three members, comprising a part-time chair, a part-time deputy chair, and a full-time Chief Electoral Officer, who will also be the chief executive. Appointments to the commission are made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the House of Representatives.

At this point in time I am moving the appointment of the chair and the Chief Electoral Officer to ensure that the new commission has sufficient board members in place in the interim. I intend to ask the House to consider the appointment of the deputy chair of the commission in the near future. As the chair of the commission, Justice Sir Hugh Williams will offer the commission strong leadership. He has had longstanding involvement in the administration of justice and has significant governance experience as a highly engaged university chancellor. Sir Hugh was appointed as a judge of the High Court in 1995. He retired from the bench in 2009, but still holds an acting warrant. He previously served as a Master of the High Court for 6 years, and for many years, as I said earlier, he was the chancellor of Massey University. As the president of the existing Electoral Commission since 2009, Justice Williams is well informed on the issues and complexities associated with the preparations for the next general election, and his appointment will provide valuable continuity.

Mr Robert Peden has been the Chief Electoral Officer since 2006, as well as having been a member of the Representation Commission. Mr Peden has a career that combines a mix of policy, strategic planning, and operational planning, and he has a proven record of delivery in his current position of Chief Electoral Officer. He has worked in the area of electoral matters for almost 15 years and has accumulated a comprehensive knowledge of electoral law.

Under section 32(1)(b) of the Crown Entities Act 2004, appointments to the commission may be made for 5 years or for any shorter period stated in the notice of appointment. Sir Hugh’s appointment is proposed for a term of 3 years, to ensure that the position of chair is reviewed with a 12-month lead-in time to the 2014 general election. Mr Peden’s appointment to the position of Chief Electoral Officer is proposed for a 5-year term, taking his appointment a year beyond the 2014 general election and providing sufficient time for the completion of post-election reporting requirements. I commend these appointments to the House.

I rise to support the motion and to welcome the two appointments to the new Electoral Commission. The Hon Justice Sir Hugh Williams is more than qualified to continue the role under the new electoral framework that he commenced in September last year under the old framework. Justice Williams brings a depth of experience to the role. This will be welcome as the Parliament beds in new electoral finance laws, and conducts, as I think it will have to do, an in-depth, independent review of MMP after the referendum survives the attempts of those determined to remove proportional representation from our electoral landscape.

It is for that reason in particular that I welcome Justice Williams’ appointment. Reflecting back on the Royal Commission on the Electoral System, which was the precursor to the change to our electoral system producing the MMP system, I note that it was a judge who chaired that royal commission, Justice Wallace. I think it is fitting and appropriate that a judge will lead this all-important review, which is designed to mitigate some of the unintended consequences of the system of MMP chosen by the people of New Zealand by referendum in 1993.

I regret that such an independent process was not provided for in the original legislation when we changed to MMP. The reason I regret it is that the select committee process that was provided for in the alternative, although chaired by the Speaker of the day, did not have the degree of separation or distance from this place that such a review required. I welcome the appointment of a judge to the most senior position within our electoral framework.

Robert Peden, of course, has been a source of excellent advice and support across Governments and Parliaments, and he is, in fact, currently one of the advisers to the Electoral Legislation Committee, which is the temporary select committee I have the pleasure of sitting on. It was set up to deal with two bills: one on electoral finance reform and another on the issue of the coming referendum, as well as some of the Parliamentary Service rules that have been referred to us in the Parliamentary Service Amendment Bill. Mr Peden is extremely practised and he has an excellent knowledge of the law, as well as a very practical understanding of how the law works for people who are candidates, people who are concerned about the activities of candidates, political parties, and, obviously, members of the public as well. I think he has performed an excellent role in terms of education and in terms of the standing he has gained in the community through ensuring that those things are addressed in a proper way.

I think it is important to remember that people’s reputations can stand or fall when they fall foul of electoral rules, whether the mistake is deliberate or not. I recall occasions in the past when individuals have been found guilty of “corrupt practices”, because that is the language used in the legislation, even though it was not a deliberate fraud on the system or an attempt to skirt round the rules. In fact, in one case I recall it was simply a failure to calculate GST on the amount that had been spent. It was interesting because the National Party did precisely that, but in that case the concern was over television advertising and the party could not be done for corrupt practice, which just shows us that one size does not fit all as far as the law is concerned. That is why someone of Mr Peden’s integrity is required to fulfil the role, and I fully support his appointment.

I look forward to the Government completing its consultations so we can see a deputy chair appointed in the not too distant future. We have been consulted on the possible deputy, and I presume that other parties are being consulted on who it might be, and if it does turn out to be the person whom I understand it will be, we will be very pleased with that appointment as well.

I understand, as the Minister of Justice has confirmed tonight, that the appointment of these two members to the Electoral Commission has been made to meet the needs of the impending by-election occasioned by the departure of the Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban. I thought it would be appropriate to acknowledge her role model status as an effective Minister, whom I worked with particularly closely as Minister of Women’s Affairs, on economic development issues for Pasifika women. I want to place that on record, and to say how sad we are to see her go. In many respects, where she is going she will be able to continue the very good work she started on behalf of Pasifika women in particular, and I wish her all the very best for the future.

I tossed up whether I should mention the last thing I will mention in the context of this discussion, but given the need to appoint members of the commission now because of the impending by-election and the need to have things up and running for 1 October, I decided I should. I do not like mentioning the fact that there are brain-dead bloggers out there in cyberspace who say terrible things about people that simply are not true. I do not like the fact that I will mention Whale Oil Beef Hooked, because I do not ever, ever read his site—I do not. The only reason I am aware of what he has written on his site, which is entirely relevant to the debate on these appointments, is that I had the chair of my electorate committee send me an email asking me to tell her that I was not leaving. I immediately responded to her asking her where she got that information from. It came from a very unreliable source. We think that Aaron Gilmore was the real source of information; that was just wishful thinking on his part.

I place on record that I am not about to cause a by-election. I am nominating myself to be reselected as the candidate for Christchurch East. I have already submitted my nomination form to the Labour Party. It has been received, and I have a letter confirming the receipt of the nomination. I have not been overseas in the last few weeks; I am not applying for a job overseas. I think somebody will have to get over the fact that they are standing in a seat that will return a Labour MP. I feel honoured to be able to serve that electorate, I believe I serve that electorate well, and I look forward to continue to serve it in the future. I support the motion.

Just over a week ago a nationwide ShapeNZ survey of more than 2,200 New Zealanders found that if there is to be electoral reform in Aotearoa, people want it sooner rather than later. I congratulate the Minister of Justice on his speedy execution of change for the people of New Zealand.

The motion fills two of the three positions in the electoral trifecta in establishing the new Electoral Commission as an independent Crown entity. In doing so it will, no doubt, please the 56 percent of New Zealanders surveyed who want a different system to operate at the 2014 general election. The different system will be, we all hope, less complicated and convoluted than the systems that already exist. The new commission will be responsible for conducting all parliamentary elections, by-elections, referenda, and the registration of political parties as of 1 October 2010.

With the recent activities associated with both the Labour and ACT parties, electoral system reform could not be timelier. In respect of the political uncertainty that has played out across our screens in recent weeks, I think the calibre of the two individuals nominated today must be recognised as an immediate strength for the new entity. In the eight words of the name of the Hon Justice Sir Hugh Williams KNZM, QC, LLM we have already an indication of the quality of legal leadership that will come to the fore. He is already well poised to embark on the process of electoral reform, having been in the position of president of the Electoral Commission since last year. The Minister has set out Sir Hugh’s background, and we welcome the skills of governance and management he brings, which are so important in the role of chair.

The Māori Party also supports the appointment of Robert Peden into the dual role of Chief Electoral Officer and chief executive of the Electoral Commission. Mr Peden is well known to the Māori Party, as to other parties, and I comment on one of the initiatives that he introduced by bringing together party officials to meet the relevant authorities—namely, the Chief Electoral Office, the Electoral Enrolment Centre, and the Electoral Commission.

Mr Peden has had to cut his teeth on the intricacies of complex and convoluted electoral administration in the wake of the Electoral Finance Act, following the legislative changes imposed by the previous Government. He had to provide advice on whether the signs on Trevor Mallard’s bright red Volkswagen Caddy could be interpreted as advertisements for Labour, and consequently require the name and home address of the party’s financial agent to be carved into the paintwork. Mr Peden had to answer all of the 101 queries about whether a business card, a tattoo promoting the Māori Party, a tino rangatiratanga flag, or brochures funded by third parties could be considered electioneering. One would think anyone who survived the nightmare of the Electoral Finance Act deserves a medal, not an instant promotion to more of the same. But, seriously, few understand better than Robert Peden the exact machinery of all aspects of the electoral law in operation. We think that has to be a great advantage for the new Electoral Commission.

There is no denying that efficient, effective, and expert administration of the Electoral Commission will be of fundamental importance to Parliament, to government, and, indeed, to the functioning of a healthy democracy. The Māori Party is happy to support these two nominees, and we look forward to the third commissioner being appointed in due course. No doubt the delay is due to extensive efforts being undertaken to recruit a person of tangata whenua descent into the role. We have, of course, any number of people who could fulfil that role with excellent credentials to take the nation forward, and we await with great anticipation the opportunity for the Treaty partner to be engaged in such a significant mechanism for our constitutional future.

Motion agreed to.