Barbara McKenzie: The Govt’s Backdoor Attempt to Lower the Voting Age

Changing the electoral act to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote is the policy of both the Labour and Green parties. They could follow the normal procedure for changes to electoral rights, with a referendum followed by a vote in parliament. The problem for the government parties is that there is widespread public opposition, so a referendum is unlikely to succeed and even if it did, a constitutional change requires 75% support in parliament – with National and Act in opposition it would never get through.

Instead, it appears that a more convoluted route to lowering the voting age is being followed through courts and legislation, which may enable the government to bypass both a referendum and the requirement of 75% support in parliament.

Barbara McKenzie: NZ Children Can’t Read or Write, So Let Them Vote

The New Zealand Supreme Court has ruled in favour of lowering the voting age to 16.

‘Justice France told the court it was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights to not allow 16-year-olds to vote, and the decision of the Court of Appeal was overturned.’

Jacinda Ardern announced the same day, 21 November, that the Cabinet had decided ‘to draft a piece of legislation with a proposal to lower the age to 16 for the whole of Parliament to consider’. While the required 75% majority makes its success unlikely, Labour’s present majority means this may be its best chance for a long time, and if the Bill does gets through, it will be very difficult to reverse. However it comes at an interesting time:

Barbara Mckenzie: What’s Wrong with the NZ Green Party?

In August 2022 Wellington mayoral candidate Tory Whanau, along with other Green and Labour candidates and sitting councillors, attended a counter-demonstration organised by the Wellington section of Antifa, a worldwide organisation known for its chosen strategy of intimidation in order to achieve its ends.

It hardly seems a coincidence that the toxic NZ Green Party subsequently fought a toxic local election campaign in Wellington. Wellington Antifa self-describes as opposing ‘fascism and anti-vax ideology’ thus correlating the two, and in line with Antifa philosophy the Greens insisted on a vaccine election, demonised the unvaccinated and made great use of intimidatory tactics.