Equal suffrage is a fundamental human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also states:
To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors
So equal suffrage is a fundamental human right, included in both major global human rights declarations. It is also in the NZ Bill of Rights Act:
has the right to vote in genuine periodic elections of members of the House of Representatives, which elections shall be by equal suffrage and by secret ballot
So our law already states that equal suffrage applies to national elections. Uffindell’s bill would change NZ BORA so it reads:
Every New Zealand citizen who is of or over the age of 18 years has the right to vote in genuine periodic elections by equal suffrage and secret ballot of members of the House of Representatives; and members of local authorities.
So a very simple law change that enhances human rights in New Zealand. So how does Radio NZ report on this proposed bill. Well in this article they quote two opponents of the bill as a “backward step”, and doesn’t go to a single person (about from the MP proposing it) supporting it for comment.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
6 comments:
Somebody should propose a bill that gives greater political power to a race other than Maori. Then we will hear all about the need for equality of suffrage.
It will be interesting if Sam Uffindell's gets drawn. It will show how many racist are in each party.
"If" is the key word - like Winston's DEI Bill - they must be drawn. Long odds for this to happen.
These ideas should be presented as Bills - endorsed by all Coalition parties. But too provocative for Mr "Te Reo" Luxon.
The article referred to quotes Maori saying they feel discriminated against and hence (presumably) disadvantaged. Well, feelings aren’t facts and it is obvious to any observant person that there are many provisions in our laws that benefit Maori only.
There are a number of members' bills that ought to be elevated to Government Bills and actioned under urgency. We've had a load of relatively unimportant tosh dealt with under urgency this week, what happened to the really important stuff - shoved under the 'inconvenient' mat? Liebour shoved through their dirty linen under urgency and the previous comment is 100% correct, Luxon is dragging the chain. Why? The guy needs to be vaccinated with a bit of common sense because he sure as hell does not have it naturally in his DNA, he seems to have DEI floating around with the red cells instead.
and amongst the important stuff languishing in limbo we have the MACA amendment - Goldsmith, please get off your sit-upon! We must have the seabed and foreshore protected from those who want to gain control of OUR assets.
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