Electoral Amendment Bill

I present a legislative statement on the Electoral Amendment Bill.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

I move, That the Electoral Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

This bill adds an important building block to the foundations of our democracy by providing greater transparency and public disclosures of public donations, loans, and parties’ annual financial statements. This is a much-needed and vital amendment to enhance public trust and confidence in our electoral system as we head into next year’s general election.

Those in this House may have heard me say before that it is important for the public to know who butters our bread, and may wonder exactly what I mean by that. First and foremost, the public must trust that their elected representatives act in their best interests at all times, not in our own interests or in the interests of those who have provided funding for our political activities but in the interests of the New Zealand public that we represent, the public we are meant to serve first and foremost. We know that public trust is low right now. I’ve mentioned a few times the recent Victoria University of Wellington survey which showed this lack of public trust. Many submissions to the select committee also indicated this lack of trust. This makes it clear that we cannot continue as we have before.

One of the best ways to strengthen public trust in our democracy is to provide New Zealanders with greater transparency about how well political parties and candidates are funded, and this bill does exactly that. It lowers the threshold for disclosing the identity of party donors from $15,000 to $5,000. It requires the identities of anyone who donates over $20,000 to a party during an election year to be disclosed within 10 working days. It also requires candidates to disclose some of the loans they receive for the very first time.

Another crucial improvement this bill introduces is the requirement for all registered parties to disclose their annual financial statements. This will provide greater transparency about all income sources for parties and acknowledges the crucial role political parties play in our democratic system. Making parties provide annual financial statements is important to ensure the public are equipped with the information they need to scrutinise how well parties are performing their role.

This bill clarifies that party donations include any donation made to a person or group of people if there are reasonable grounds to believe that such a donation was intended for the benefit of a party. The bill additionally now creates an offence for anyone who receives a donation and fails without reasonable excuse to transmit it to the intended recipient, being either a candidate or party secretary, within 10 working days, as the Electoral Act currently requires. These amendments address the risks identified in the recent High Court case relating to the New Zealand First Foundation. I want to thank the other parties in this House for the support that they have expressed for making these amendments.

Finally, this bill extends the eligibility of overseas voters to enrol to vote in the 2023 general election. The right to vote is one of our most fundamental rights, so it is hugely important to enfranchise New Zealand citizens and permanent residents overseas who have been affected by the impact of COVID-19 travel restrictions. I want to acknowledge those members of the Justice Committee who have diligently turned their hands, turned their eyes, and turned their ears to being custodians of this bill through the legislative process. I commend this bill to the House.

Members, the time has come for me to leave the Chair for the dinner break and the House will resume at 7 p.m. this evening.

Sitting suspended from 6.02 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Debate interrupted.