Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill (No 2)

Oh, thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to propose that this bill should be amended in its title, because I think the title does not accurately reflect, actually, what Parliament is doing here today. The proposed title is that this bill is the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill (No 2). The “No 2” is something which I think does not accurately reflect the process which this Parliament has gone through to get to that stage, and I think something along the lines of “shambolic process” or something which represents the shambles which this Parliament has gone through to get here would be a far more reflective title than simply just saying this is the second bill.

The reason there’s a second bill is not just that the Government wants to give prisoners the right to vote twice. It’s not like last week they wanted to give them the right, and now they want to just reaffirm that right. It’s because they came to Parliament last week and they had the Green Party bring a Supplementary Order Paper to this House. There was a shambles on the floor of this House between different parties in this coalition—well, the Greens aren’t in the coalition—and they couldn’t agree, and they rushed the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill through under urgency. They didn’t give them themselves enough time to consider what the effect of that Supplementary Order Paper would be. They didn’t give themselves enough time to even have one day between—

💬 Andrew Bayly: They blew it.

They blew it. They didn’t even have one day between the committee of the whole House and the third reading, which is the standard procedure which is required under the Standing Orders. They simply rushed it through under urgency. They didn’t take up the opportunity to send it back to committee to be able to fix up the errors of the coalition Government’s ways, and they simply continued to ram the bill through Parliament.

So the reason why we’ve got a “No 2” is the shambles of a process by which this Government has pushed this issue through all the way. Right from day one, when the first reading of the first bill, the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill, was put to Parliament, they put it through in extended hours. They then rushed the submissions through under urgency through COVID-19, while the country was in lockdown. They then put the second reading through under extended hours. They then put the third reading and the committee stage through under urgency. This bill should be titled with something that represents the rushed process and the flawed process that this bill has gone through, and it should be a reminder to the Government as to why they should not be passing electoral law in such a rushed fashion and without having some bipartisan support in putting pieces of legislation through which are to do with our electoral law.

I’d like to remind the Green Party of the principled stance they used to have in relation to urgency. It’s no longer the case that they do have it. And so the Minister should be seriously considering amending that title, removing “No 2”, and actually replacing it with something which more accurately reflects the shambolic process this bill has gone through.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wonder if the Minister of Justice would care to comment on the alternative possibility that the Act be named “Electoral (Registration of Some Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill”, as opposed to “(Registration of Sentenced Prisoners)”, to reflect the reality that, in fact, it will not be all, but some, sentenced prisoners who will be able to vote as a result of this, in conjunction with the previous legislation.

I follow the rule of statutory interpretation that says that the general entails the particular but not necessarily vice versa.

I thank the Minister for that answer, and just seek his guidance on the commencement date. I wonder if he would agree that the Act should come into force somewhat later than the day after Royal assent, given the turbulent passage of related items of legislation, such that the official website, legislation.govt.nz, the last time that I had a chance to check it, hadn’t been able to update and therefore correctly reflect the current law following last week’s changes.

I’m not sure that’s necessary. This Government has invested heavily in new valves for the website that carries the legislation, so they’re very fast and efficient. They’ll warm up very quickly and they’re able to convey the information instantaneously.

Clause 1 agreed to.

Clause 2 agreed to.

Clause 3 agreed to.

House resumed.

The Chairperson reported the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill (No 2) without amendment.

Report adopted.

Third Reading