REPRESENTATION Commission — Membership

on behalf of the Minister of Justice: I move, That this House nominate the appointment of the following members to the Representation Commission:

under section 28(2)(e) of the Electoral Act 1993, the Hon Roger Morrison Sowry ONZM of Paraparaumu to represent the Government, and the Hon Andrew James Little of Wellington to represent the Opposition; and

under section 28(3)(b) of the Electoral Act 1993, for the purposes of determining the boundaries of the Māori electoral districts, Dr Steven Wayne Elers of Palmerston North to represent the Government, and Professor Meihana Kakatarau Durie of Palmerston North to represent the Opposition.

The Representation Commission is the body charged under the Electoral Act 1993—the Act—with determining the number of electoral districts in New Zealand and fixing their boundaries. Section 28(2)(e) of the Act provides that two persons shall be appointed as members of the commission for the purpose of determining the boundaries of the general electorate districts; one of those members being nominated to represent the Government and one to represent the Opposition.

Section 28(3)(b) of the Act provides that “For the purposes of determining the boundaries of the Maori electoral districts … 2 persons”—again—“shall be appointed … as members of the Commission,”—again—“1 of those members being nominated to represent the Government and 1 to represent the Opposition.” Appointments to the Representation Commission are made by the Governor-General by Order in Council on the nomination of this House of Representatives.

Mr Sowry has been a member of the Representation Commission since 2006. He has worked as a consultant with Saunders Unsworth since 2008, after a 15-year career in Parliament and 2½ years as chief executive of Arthritis New Zealand. As a member of Parliament, he held responsibilities that included Associate Minister for Health 1997-98, Minister of Social Welfare 1996-99, and National Party health spokesperson 2001-03. He currently chairs Whakarongorau Aotearoa—formerly known as Homecare Medical—and is the deputy chair of HealthCare New Zealand. He is a former member of the Electricity Authority and of the Electricity Commission.

I also add that Mr Little has an extensive background in law and public service. He joined the legal consultancy Gibson Sheat Lawyers in March 2024. He was leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2014 to 2017, and a senior member and Minister in the Labour Governments from 2017 to 2023, including as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Minister of Justice, Minister of Defence, and Minister of Health. His political career had followed a career in unionism, which included 11 years as the national secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union—EPMU—New Zealand’s largest union.

Dr Steven Elers is an ordained Anglican minister and was a senior lecturer in the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University from 2015 to 2024. He lectured at Auckland University of Technology—AUT University—from 2013 to 2015, and his early career was as a police officer in Australia. He writes a weekly column for Stuff on social and cultural issues.

Finally, but by no means least, Professor Durie is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori at Massey University and is an educator, academic, film maker, and a contributing scholar to the recently released book Ngā Kete Mātauranga—Māori Scholars at the Research Interface. Before he took up his post at Massey University, Professor Durie was kaihautū and academic director at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki. He was also instrumental in establishing Ngā Purapura—the hauora centre—and the Bachelor of Māori Health Promotion Programme.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Kia ora, Madam Speaker. There’s not a lot to add now that the Hon Chris Penk has run through the extensive CVs of these appointees. They do have a challenging task ahead of them, and I really just want to recognise the work that’s ahead of them.

Many of us MPs obviously take a very good interest in what’s going on. Electoral boundaries are important, but, at the same time, it is important that there’s a fair degree of distance between those who are directly affected by it and those who make those decisions. Obviously, many of us here will have views and feed that in one way or another to this process, but we absolutely support these appointments. We think there’s a high degree of competence and, also, the right approach of the public service by these appointees, notwithstanding the political backgrounds that exist there as well.

I won’t prolong the debate. We’ve got other important work to get on with as well. I wish them well and obviously it’s an important part of the electoral process. Kia ora.

Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Tēnā anō tātou katoa. I stand on behalf of the Green Party to endorse and support the appointment of these representatives of the Government and the Opposition today. To be fair, it’s an exciting time for us. Let’s review our boundaries, let’s review the names, and let’s have a look at the census data and tell us where we are. Being Māori is pretty cool—we’re nearly 1 million people—so let’s take a look under the hood. May I also comment that I note there’s no wāhine being appointed—just pause on that—but the credentials of those who have been appointed are great. Te Papaioea, the tribes of Palmerston North, have two great sons who will be there on behalf of te iwi Māori to consider these things which are so important for us.

Now, as an education opportunity for those that might be watching, in terms of what the commission represents: the chance for us to look at our boundaries, the chance for us to look at our populations, and to make sure that we’re currently looking like and feeling like New Zealand, is awesome. Every five years or so, we have census come out and it tells us what New Zealand looks like now, but also they get to look at what New Zealand will look like in the next five years. As a part of this process, I celebrate the opportunity for us to look now and into the future at what our electoral boundaries might look like for te iwi Māori—those Māori electorates—but also across our communities, because those who are elected to this House don’t just represent those who are registered to vote but it’s the entire community. On behalf of the Green Party, we endorse and tautoko. Kia ora.

Motion agreed to.