Election Access Fund Bill

I move, That the Election Access Fund Bill be now read a third time.

I want everybody in this House to imagine for a second. Imagine that you can’t hear me. I’m sure that is something that many of my colleagues in this Chamber would invite and think that they’d very much like, but, of course, I would like them to remove the humour from that proposition. Seriously, I ask my colleagues to imagine that they can’t hear me, but that they can’t hear not just me. Imagine that you can’t hear the question time bells and you can’t hear the conscience vote bells, which echoed across Parliament last night, well past midnight, calling us to work and to vote in the Chamber. Imagine that you can’t hear points of order, questions nor the answers. Imagine that you can’t hear the whispers of colleagues as whips dart across the House and negotiate the day’s business and that you can’t hear interjections and heckles, nor the laughs and the bellows that follow.

Imagine that you can’t hear your co-workers in the office and the hallways, and you can’t hear them in caucus, in cross-party groups, or in select committees. That hearing, that access, that enabling of basic equality, is something that every single one of us in this Chamber, who is currently elected to the House of Representatives, takes for granted. It is proof that this place was made, was designed, for the likes of us. But it’s estimated that nearly 19 percent of New Zealanders experience a form of hearing loss. Thousands communicate via our official language—New Zealand Sign Language, but zero percent of the House of Representatives are currently living that experience. We make the rules for those deaf and disabled New Zealanders, but we regularly do so without any knowledge of their experiences.

Those experiences aren’t just of deafness nor of disability. They are a breadth and a richness of human experiences, of lessons learnt, of jobs done, of advocacy advocated, of lives lived. There is no such pigeonhole nor neat and tidy box of deaf and disability issues. In fact, every single piece of policy, every single debate in Parliament, every single decision that is made impacts the homes, the environment, the country, and the worlds that all of us live in.

Tokenism is someone without a certain experience asking those with that experience to comment on a perceivably niche, narrow something that the person without experience thinks is relevant to those with the experience. It’s permission to provide feedback on a specified little area of things that the person without experience is comfortable letting those with the experience see and participate in. It is paternalistic and it is patronising. It is controlling. Representation is an equal platform. It is not telling someone what affects them but asking them and shutting up and hearing the answer.

What we’re doing today is actually pretty basic, but it’s also hugely fundamental. We are removing the barriers that none of us in this place right now have had to wrangle with. That fact in and of itself is worthy of inspection. Who has been left behind and made invisible in the conversation because they didn’t make it in here?

Just today, I had my executive assistant, Tim Onnes, telling me of the difficulty of bringing people into this Parliament to witness this speech—this third reading speech—about accessibility, about democracy, and how difficult it was for those people to navigate through our Parliament and to engage in this process.

What political candidates didn’t make it in here because they couldn’t afford the unique travel arrangements, the translators, the costly barriers that we didn’t have to worry about? What New Zealanders didn’t even make it to contemplating being a candidate because of concern and fear of the excessive bills and the fuss? Which citizens didn’t even think of this as a possible place for them, and by them, because they couldn’t see themselves in it? Today, we are unanimously fixing a glaring hole in our democracy. If you haven’t seen, felt, or heard that vortex, it’s because it doesn’t affect you. But it just so happens, our official statistics belie that it affects the lives of around one in every four New Zealanders. Today, we are enabling the impartial and politically independent Electoral Commission to administer a fund to remove barriers faced by the deaf and disabled candidates in our general elections and our by-elections. Those are barriers that others do not face, barriers that not one of the 120 members in Parliament right now faced.

They are barriers that were faced by my friend the inspirational Mojo Mathers, the first Deaf member of Parliament here in Aotearoa New Zealand, who gives colour to the narrative that I have laid out this afternoon. It is not just a story, it is not myth; it is literally Mojo’s life. She brought decades of mahi in environmental protection and water quality and animal rights to our Parliament, but she became a disability rights champion because, to be frank, she was just a champion. Thank you, Mojo, for unlocking the doors for those who will come after you. Your law will not just change lives; it will change the face of places like this, and I hope that it will improve inclusion and the thoughtfulness of our society as well.

I also want to mention my mate Joe Boon, who was diagnosed in 2008 with something that I’m probably not going to be able to pronounce, but I’ll give it a shot: Friedreich’s ataxia, which is a progressive genetic neurological condition. This election, he is running—or wheeling, as I’m sure his sardonic sense of humour would allow—in Rangitīkei for the Greens. He is one of a number of deaf and disabled candidates who have stood for parties across this Chamber in the past, present, and, I am sure, the future. This bill gives those candidates—those potential politicians, those New Zealanders—an equal footing, because from the 2023 election, this law means that they no longer will have to shoulder costs that, again, none of us here did. That, quite frankly, is just a fair go.

I really deeply want to thank politicians across this Parliament who I’ve had the privilege to work with so constructively and so fully to bring this law to pass this afternoon. It is not every day that we get to pat ourselves on the back and say that we agreed on a vision for a better Aotearoa New Zealand and that we worked together to do it, but today is different. I know, having talked to many who have been involved in this conversation for so long, of the huge importance and symbolism that comes from all 120 members in this place being united in knocking down those barriers.

I want to say thank you to the Governance and Administration Committee. I want to say thank you to my colleagues in Labour and the National Party and New Zealand First and ACT and to Jami-Lee Ross. I want to say thank you to everybody who has fought so long for this. It can only be the beginning.

I asked my friend Henrietta Bollinger, who helped substantially in developing my thinking coming to this legislation but who is also an impeccable artist and writer in her own right, what on earth I should say to celebrate the passage of this law today, which has taken two years and a whole lot of work. She just offered that it is important that deaf and disabled people are no longer invisible in this conversation. They have a whole lot more to offer than just their disability, but the richness of humanity and experience that all of us have, which exceeds and extends far beyond any of our most obvious caricature.

I hope that I am done speaking on behalf of and instead of. Here is to a House of Representatives.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. National is pleased to support this Election Access Fund Bill. That is a step in the right direction for including a wider range of people in this important institution that has responsibility for the lawmaking and the governance of our country. I want to compliment Chlöe Swarbrick and the way in which she has managed the legislative process around this bill, being a strong advocate for the rights of people with disabilities but also understanding the importance of electoral law and their conduct being in a fair way. I think it reflects well on this Parliament that there is sufficient confidence in the political neutrality of the New Zealand Electoral Commission to have responsibility for allocating these funds.

I also want to acknowledge the advocacy of Mojo Mathers, in her work as a member of Parliament, in making us all more aware of the challenges for the deaf community in being able to participate in parliamentary processes. This bill just actually represents a number of other steps, including providing subtitles and other provisions in our select committees, that have helped make our Parliament more accessible.

The core part of this bill enables the Electoral Commission to set up a fund that will enable candidates for central government elections, parliamentary elections, to be able to apply for the extra costs that they face as a consequence of their disability, and being able to be refunded for that. If there was a disappointment with the bill—and we discussed it at select committee—it was whether it could be included and extended to local government, because, actually, whether it be our deaf, whether it be our blind, whether it be people that have other physical disabilities, the ideal for us would have been to provide a fund that extended it further. We note that the Justice Committee inquiry into electoral law talks about better aligning our local and parliamentary electoral laws, and that is a future challenge from this bill.

Whenever it comes to issues of electoral law, National is of a view that you need to be very careful in the allocation of whether it be public broadcasting funds or others, that you do so in such a way that it doesn’t try and screw the scrum politically one way or other. We are satisfied, through the pursuit of the detail of this bill, that we are genuinely providing a fund that will meet those reasonable costs without the risk of it being used by one political party at a disadvantage of others.

I would have one more cautious view than the sponsor of this bill, in that money is just one of the disadvantages that we seek to address through this bill. Yes, whether it be the extra costs of travel, of accommodation, or of specialised and technical equipment that exist today that is able to assist people with disabilities, I don’t think we as a Parliament should pretend that that removes all of the barriers. I actually think there is equally an attitudinal issue, both for electors, for this institution, for public servants in our society more generally, that we are improving in the way in which we deal with people with disabilities. This bill is a step in the right direction, but I do think we would be a little overstating it in accepting that providing a fund would remove all of those barriers. We still have other issues to resolve, and those attitudinal things is something that Parliament can lead, that Parliament can talk about, but is not something that can be simplistically fixed by a change of law.

So, again, I compliment those that have been advocates for this bill. The Election Access Fund Bill is a bill that is going to improve the diversity of this Parliament. How this Parliament has changed over its 160-plus years in being more diverse in respect of the ethnicities that are represented here, the big change that has seen so many more women in this Parliament, and the hope that goes with this bill is that it will see the full range of people that have different disabilities also having a voice in this institution. I commend the member who has sponsored the bill, and particularly the law change. National looks forward to working with the Electoral Commission so that we can have more candidates for Parliament, and more members, that represent the diverse disabled community.

Ka noho au ki roto i Te Reo Māori. Ka tāpae ake ahau i ōku mihi ki Tā Rōpata kua riro atu ki te pō ki roto i ngā hāora tata ake nei. Ka tāpae ake ko ngā tangi mōteatea ki te kaihautū tawhito o Te Pāti Kākāriki ki roto i ngā tau, Jeanette Fitzsimons. Ka tāpae ake ko tōku tuahine, ko Ataria Heta kua riro atu ki roto i te wiki kua pahure ake nei.

Kāti, ka huri tuatua ahau ki tēnei o ngā kaupapa. Ka tū au hei māngai mō Te Rōpū Reipa ki runga i tēnei kaupapa me te kī atu, e tautoko mārika ana mātou o Te Rōpū Reipa i tēnei o ngā pire. E tautoko ana mātou i tēnei Pire nā runga i te mōhio ko te mea nui o Te Kāwanatanga, ko te mea nui o tēnei Kāwanatanga, Te Rōpū Reipa, me Te Rōpū Kākāriki, hei whakararata mai i te hunga hauā, i te hunga turi, i wēnā momo āhuatanga katoa kei tēnei mahi ki roto i Te Whare.

Mehemea kei tēnei Whare, mehemea kei roto i ngā tāone me ngā wāhi noho a te iwi, ko te manako nui kia whakararata mai i te hunga e ngākau nui ana ki ngā mahi torangapū ki tēnei mahi. Koinā tā mātou hei tautoko ake.

Ka whakaaro ake ahau ki taku tamahine ki a Kainoa. He tamahine hauā. E aro atu ana ia ki ngā mahi e tutuki nei e tōnā matua, arā, ko au e tū nei, engari ki roto i ngā ture i a ia tonu nei, kīhai ia ka pā mai tana ringa ki ngā mahi torangapū e mahia nei e tōnā matua nā runga i tana hauātanga.

Nō reira, ka tautoko ahau i tēnei pire. Ka tautoko ahau i tōku hoa mahi e kawea nei te pire ki runga i te manako nui o Mojo Mathers e noho mai nei ki runga. Kāti e mihi atu nei ki a tātou. E tautoko ana mātou i te pire.

[I will remain in the Māori language. I acknowledge Tā Rōpata who passed away in the past couple of hours. I am much saddened by the passing of Jeanette Fitzsimons, former leader of the Green Party for many years. I acknowledge my sister, Ataria Heta, who passed away in the week just gone.

I turn to this particular issue. I stand as a spokesperson for the Labour Party on this issue and I say, we, of the Labour Party, enthusiastically support this bill. We support this bill because one of the main goals of Government, of this Labour-Greens Government, is to support the disabled community, the deaf community, and those types of groups to work here in the House.

Whether in this House, in towns or in other communities, we strongly support those who have a desire to work in politics. We endorse that.

I think about my niece Kainoa. She is disabled. She has taken a keen interest in her uncle’s career, in my career, but the rules as they are now prevent her from entering politics because of her disability.

Therefore, I support this bill. I support my colleague who sponsors the bill on the wishes of Mojo Mathers who is sitting up there. In conclusion I greet everyone here. We support this bill.]

Madam Speaker, thank you. First of all, I thank the original author of the bill, the former MP Mojo Mathers. Also, I thank the sponsor of the bill, the MP Chlöe Swarbrick, for her skilful work and her hard work.

As the chair of the Governance and Administration Committee, I’m very pleased with the cooperative spirit that parties and members demonstrated in the process of considering this particular bill. I was thinking why we had this kind of cooperative spirit. I believe there were quite a few reasons. Firstly, of course, I thank the MP Chlöe Swarbrick for her skill and her genuine effort to consult these different parties. Secondly, I think this bill itself is quite well drafted—limited in terms of scope.

The reasoning behind the bill is well accepted and easy to understand but, more importantly, I would say it is because all members, all parties, have a genuine intention to support—to help—disabled people. These people are a very important part of our society. They are very close to us. We can relate to them very easily. So for that reason, I believe all members, all parties, are ready to work together to support this very important part of our society.

Now, this constitutes a solid foundation for Government strategies and policies towards disabled people. Our support has become increasingly comprehensive. We’ve given them support in terms of physical support, in terms of cultural or mental or financial support, but now we are moving even closer to what we call comprehensiveness, because we are trying to help them to participate in our general elections, to exercise their political rights, to facilitate them to exercise their political rights.

So for that reason, I believe this bill is a step in the right direction. As the Hon Nick Smith mentioned, this bill may not solve all problems, but it’s a step in the right direction. Also, I would say the committee made some changes, and these changes are useful. For example, the committee proposed by-elections to be included in this particular bill, and to make sure that any successful application to the fund would not be counted as a donation and would be exempt from income tax. All these are important in terms of improving the bill. So I commend the bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a real privilege to be in the House to talk to this bill. Can I acknowledge Chlöe Swarbrick in particular and just the doggedness and the hard work to get this to where it is today. I think that takes real courage, but it comes easy for her, because she really took it all the way through, step by step. I was really proud that she took a piece of work that one of her colleagues Mojo Mathers had started. Many others had thought about it, but she’s actually the one that’s got it to the finish line. So more than a pat on the back for that, because this ultimately is about democracy and allowing all New Zealanders in Aotearoa New Zealand to have the opportunity.

I think back to my own father, who had political aspirations. He was a Methodist minister for just under 50 years, so everything was political in our home. But his hearing went, his health went, and so he never quite got across the bar. He said to me, “I don’t know whether people like me are match-fit for that place.” I hope I’m fulfilling some of his legacy, but, more importantly, for all those Kiwis who now have the opportunity to do and get the information and just get the tools—I think that was the one word that I saw in there—to make their opportunity to get into this place happen. We’ll add local government a bit later. That’s important, and I see some city councillors up there—Teri O’Neill—so, fantastic.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Just before I address the bill, could I add my words of condolence to the families and friends of both Jeanette Fitzsimons and Sir Rob Fenwick, two very dedicated conservationists, environmentalists, and very fine New Zealanders. I know all members of this House share a great sense of loss at the passing of two very highly respected people.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chlöe Swarbrick’s speech, and I don’t always say that when I listen to her speaking. I’m sure it would be utterly churlish for me to say that I took some pleasure at her invitation to imagine a world in which we couldn’t hear her at all. I want to assure her that sometimes I do look forward to hearing her again.

Today, of course, there have been some very sensible and sensitive contributions from across the House in this particular debate, so I don’t think I need to add much more. I would simply like to endorse the comments that have been made. I do have a very strong personal commitment to supporting disabled New Zealanders to be able to gain access to representation both at the local government level and in the Parliament. I have done everything I can in recent years to support some disabled candidates in my city of Hamilton to achieve representation or election, rather, to our local authorities. I’ll continue to do so until they are successful, because I really believe that that will strengthen the quality of our democracy and ensure that they and those who share disabilities have genuine representation.

Equally, I want to see that happen in this Parliament. I look forward to the day when we see wheelchairs here, not just because somebody is showing sensitivity to a paralysed New Zealander but because a paralysed New Zealander has earned the right to be a representative in this Parliament. That goes across a whole gamut of disabilities. It is the next development in the evolution that Dr Nick Smith spoke about before, so I hope it will happen in my time. We should all work towards that goal, and this bill will help in a small way. I have great pleasure, therefore, in adding my support to it.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. My contribution is going to be short. It’s not going to be short because I don’t care. It’s going to be short because, actually, we need to release those in the gallery at 6 o’clock so that they can celebrate this moment with Chlöe Swarbrick.

I want to say two things, though, before I sit down. The first thing is that Chlöe Swarbrick has shown, through her actions around this piece of legislation, through the changes made, through the collegial way that she has worked with those from different political poles, how to bring members together and how to work together constructively—and, even, at times, to compromise, because that’s how the world works—to make sure that the goal to improve the world has been achieved.

I particularly want to ask the Young Greens and other young political parties to recognise what Chlöe has done and to acknowledge that it’s hard work but you have to keep doing it because in the real world, you’ve got to play with others. So I want to acknowledge Chlöe and her persistence, but her true maturity around the way that she has worked this through.

The other thing I want to do is I want to acknowledge Mojo Mathers in the gallery. I want to say that I remember when Mojo came, and I remember the fight she had to put up to find the resources to actually do her job, the job she had been elected to do. I remember New Zealand First, when it came to our caucus, saying, “We’ll take a cut in our party budget if everybody else does too, to make sure that Mojo has the technology that she needs.” The Speaker at the time managed to find the cash at the end of the day, so we were all good.

But now I say to the parliamentary precinct, you need to prepare for the inevitable. It cannot be that now that we pass this piece of legislation, the next person who is differently abled has to come into this House and fight, the way that Mojo had to. So let’s prepare the precinct for the multitude of diversity that we have among our population so, again, this House can say that it is a House of Representatives. We endorse the bill.

Well, thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT in support of Chlöe Swarbrick’s Election Access Fund Bill. I’d like to congratulate Chlöe Swarbrick—not a bad effort for an MP to get a member’s bill through in their rookie term in Parliament, and for a very noble cause. I should thank my colleagues in the National Party for letting me speak on this. I didn’t have a call in this debate but I wanted to speak on it because I think it’s an important issue.

I believe that it is important that we have equal opportunity in circumstances where we’re disadvantaged for reasons beyond our control. And it’s not because members of my family have lived and live with disability; it’s a belief in the role of Government—that when we are faced with risks and faced with situations or disadvantages that we have no way of controlling whatsoever, and there’s no way to privately insure against them, that’s actually an area where the Government should provide support. In the case of disability, that is an area where I actually think the Government doesn’t do enough and should be providing more acute support.

I had the experience in the End of Life Choice Bill debate of funding some people with disabilities to come to Wellington and campaign for the bill, and the costs involved were absolutely eye-opening and, frankly, eye-watering for somebody in a wheelchair with their carer to come and engage in our politics. As Chlöe Swarbrick said in her opening speech, no doubt many people in that circumstance who either couldn’t afford it or didn’t have benefactors who were prepared to support them simply wouldn’t see representation in Parliament as an option, and I think that’s wrong. I think that’s one area where the State should be an insurer of last resort, so I’m supporting this bill, first and foremost, because it is good public policy, but, secondly, because it is something that makes us a more inclusive, humane, and compassionate society to put on our statute book that we as a society are committed to helping people participate in our democracy if they have additional challenges that are experienced as absolutely no fault of their own, then that’s when there’s a role for us to help.

So well done Chlöe Swarbrick. Thank you, Madam Speaker. I commend this bill to the House on behalf of ACT. Thank you.

The next call’s a split call—Jamie Strange.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to take a brief contribution on the Election Access Fund Bill. We hear a lot about a representative Parliament—a Parliament that represents all of New Zealand. Tonight we’re seeing some action around that, and I’d like to acknowledge Chlöe Swarbrick for taking a stand and also Mojo Mathers before her.

I was privileged to be part of the Governance and Administration Committee for a brief period of time when Chlöe Swarbrick was working on this bill. Look, she’s certainly done a great job bringing this to the Parliament, and I’m excited to speak on the third reading. This is a victory for democracy and it’s a victory for inclusion in New Zealand. We’ve sort of heard a lot of the content of the bill from various speakers, so I’ll probably finish my contribution there. But I’d just like to reiterate: we hear a lot of talk, but tonight we’ve seen practical action, and it’s really encouraging to see that, so well done.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you for the opportunity to take a short call on the Election Access Fund Bill in its third reading. I too just want to acknowledge the sponsor of the bill, Chlöe Swarbrick. We see eye to eye on so many issues, in particular this issue. I also want to acknowledge former Green Party MP Mojo Mathers, who was instrumental in putting forward this issue which this Parliament is now unanimously supporting. I’m really proud to be a member of Parliament on days like today when we do unanimously support pieces of legislation which make a practical impact on people’s lives.

One of the really interesting things about this bill is it’s not just about people who are standing as candidates to be members of this Parliament but actually people who are putting their names forward to be candidates in the party processes or candidate selection processes. We’ve all had to go through those processes as candidates to be selected by our respective parties, and we all know how difficult those processes can be, and the fact that this bill will also support those with disabilities to be able to access this fund and to be able to put their name forward to represent their party and then their community is something which I’m particularly proud of. So I commend this bill to the House. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. It is great to see this bill reach its third reading in the House today. I’ve watched this as a select committee member on the Governance and Administration Committee and watched the good work that was done by the subgroup that was formed to nut out the policy detail of what shape this bill would take.

I would like to, first and foremost, acknowledge Mojo Mathers for bringing this bill and the shape and also for Chlöe Swarbrick for her continued advocacy for those in the community that cannot always have the same voice and impact as they probably should do. I guess my point in my speech tonight is that while it’s great to see a bill that provides further access for people who deserve it and need it and don’t always have it, it is a shame that that always takes such a big fight. I’ll look forward to the day when we have equality in New Zealand and not every step of the way has to be such a struggle.

I was, I guess, educated on this by a local member of the Hutt community by the name of Mike Grigg who is, sadly, no longer with us. He was a very strong, vocal advocate for the rights of people in the disability community and he was a constant battler to any local member of Parliament or council member that would listen. It is through his continued advocacy and talking with him that I learnt how difficult it can be for people to get what they deserve and have that equal representation with those around them.

So we support the Election Access Fund Bill because of the fact that it facilitates participation of people with disabilities in general elections, and that is only right and fair. It enables disabled people to be given appropriate tools and the ability to be able to compete on an even ground—to run as a candidate, to attend an election event, and to participate as a party member. It is estimated that it is around 9 percent of the population of New Zealand who have some form of hearing loss alone as one area, and it is only right that there should be an ability to engage in debates and communication and have those abilities for the members of our democracy to share and understand what those ideas are.

The Government is working hard to build a more inclusive New Zealand, but we have a lot more to do. We want to be a country that creates opportunities for people with disabilities and that is why I am supporting the bill and why this Government supports this bill.

The Election Access Fund Bill was originally sponsored by Mojo Mathers, and it was back in 2011, I understand, that she became New Zealand’s first Deaf MP. In some ways, while this bill, I’ve said, is a good thing, it is a bit sad in some ways that it’s taken us to 2020 to reach making steps like this, just to enable people to be able to fairly engage and be part of an election process. I’m really looking forward to seeing this bill form part of how we will continue to have elections in the future and to see what differences it brings, what types of candidates we see, and the ideas that they bring into New Zealand. I think we can only be a stronger and more robust democracy with the more voices that contribute to that debate, and I am proud to see a bill that further enables that action to take place. I commend this bill to the House.

It’s a pleasure to rise and speak to the Election Access Fund Bill, and I want to first of all acknowledge and congratulate Mojo Mathers, who’s sitting behind me, I understand, in the gallery, because it took a lot of courage. I remember the debates and the news articles at the time, and the cost and all the things that were incurred, which was really difficult. But as we stand here tonight, across this Parliament there is universal agreement that this is the thing to do. I wholeheartedly support it, and I wish to thank Chlöe Swarbrick for what she has done, and for the maturity, sometimes I would say, beyond her years of getting everybody together—

Chlöe Swarbrick: Thanks, “Dad”!

—you know—to get everybody in the room to agree, and I’ve watched her come into the meetings and get agreement. I think this place would be by far the better place if we had as broad a section of society as we could, including good and participatory representation from the disabled community. Anything we do to go towards that, I think is very worthwhile.

I also would be very supportive in the future of taking this into the local government realm, because I think that is the next stage. We couldn’t do it this time, but it should be done in the future.

This is a complete no-brainer. It’s taken a lot of work to get here, but I am happy to commend this bill to the House.

It’s my absolute delight to be the final person in this House tonight to stand as we pass through the third reading of the Election Access Fund Bill, because when we have a House that is truly representative—when disabled people can participate fully in the electoral processes that we all should be able to participate in—it means that Governments are better held to account, it means that we can make better law, and it means that we can make law that actually reflects the realities of people who are of disabled communities. It means that we can build a vibrant, inclusive democracy, if everyone is able to actively and equally engage in it.

I’m so proud tonight of my colleague Chlöe Swarbrick and the deserved attention and accolades that have come from across the House for the way that she has nurtured and carried this piece of good law to us here tonight. I’m profoundly proud of my colleague, ex-Green MP Mojo Mathers, the first Deaf politician for New Zealand, and all of the NGOs and advocacy that has come from years and years of hard work and pressure being kept on this place. I think, for example, of my friend Kim Robertson, chairperson of Deaf Action New Zealand, who is consistently asking us where are our interpreter services for public announcements and for question time in the House, and I hope we can see this legislation tonight as a step to move towards the rest of the things that we have to clean up, especially here in Government and here in Parliament, where we can lead.

I wanted to note that the Disabled Persons Assembly strongly recommended that this fund was not going to be restricted and limited to be diagnosis-specific. I am pleased to say that the Government and Administration Committee worked hard to ensure that it is a wide, contestable fund so that we don’t need to be guided by restricted definitions and can merely focus on what is needed. It is also accessible to non-profit organisations and political parties to start to make sure that we have a wide, round focus on ensuring equal access to these electoral processes, not just from a parliamentary perspective.

This bill affirms that New Zealanders want a fair electoral process. The reason why it has taken so long is not because of nasty intent but because when you do not have people with lived experience, the default is we are going to be coming from a perspective that we are used to, and when you do not have people with lived experience of the barriers to this world which are disabling, it means that we are less capable of making law that realises what those barriers are, understands what is needed to shift those barriers out of the way, and understands that at every step of our world at the moment there are far too many assumptions that are made that we are all the same.

So I’m pleased that this bill, while not the final answer, is an impressive and important step for us to reflect as a country, and, indeed, as a world, to say that this is what needs to happen in every sphere of our public and political life—that we need to make sure that there is equal ability for everyone to participate in what is so-called public life. So I am proud. Congratulations, Mojo; congratulations, disabled community; congratulations, Chlöe Swarbrick; and congratulations, all of us for this work here tonight. Kia ora.

Bill read a third time.