Wairoa council backs lowering voting age, Govt does not

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Civic-minded 16-and 17-year-olds will remain disenfranchised after the new Government put the kibosh on plans to let them vote in local elections.

The plans were warmly welcomed by Wairoa District Council but Local Government Minister Simeon Brown confirmed the coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans.

“I have written to the chairperson of the Justice committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Electoral (Lowering Voting Age for Local Elections and Polls) Legislation Bill through further parliamentary stages, and requested that the committee ends consideration of this Bill,” he said.

“Worrying about how to implement a new voting age regime would be a costly distraction for councils who have enough issues to deal with right now.”

Mr Brown said the plans were “without logic and we will not be progressing them”.

However, Wairoa District Council last month made a submission to the parliamentary select committee, saying it supported lowering the age as a away to improve New Zealand’s “embarrassing” voter turnout.

The council’s submission said: “Being able to vote is an incentive for young people to learn about politics in ways they otherwise might not because a legitimate reason for young people not to care about politics is that they can’t participate in the first place.

“WDC believes the impact of allowing 16-year-olds to vote will increase future voter turnout as political decisions made today will affect a 16-year-old longer than, say, someone at the age of 60.”

Mayor Craig Little said he respected the minister’s decision.

Wairoa District Council respects the Government’s decision to withdraw the voting age bill.

“Council supported a proposal to lower the local election voting age to 16, hoping this would encourage New Zealand’s civic engagement and voter turnout now and into the future.

“The Council’s support was based on feedback from our young people, who have told us they want to have a voice in decisions that will have long-term consequences for them.

“We stated in our submission that this engagement needs to start with early civic education in schools. Wairoa District Council has established a Youth Council for this very reason.

“While we can see merit in lowering the voting age, we also acknowledge that we are in challenging times, particularly for the East Coast, which is still recovering from Cyclone Gabrielle, and that there are many areas that need to be focused on.

“While we believe lowering the voting age should be considered in the future, we support Local Government Minister Simeon Brown’s approach for local councils to stick to the core business of efficiently and effectively delivering local infrastructure and services. “