Audrey Young: If at first you don't succeed, order another electoral law review

Prime Minister Jacinda Arden and former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters At their first cabinet meeting in 2017. Photo / Mark Mitchell

OPINION:

The golden rule in politics appears to be if at first you don't succeed, set up a review.

If you still don't get what you want, set up another review a few years later.

And if you still don't get what you want, set up an even bigger review.
That is the record in electoral law.

It is one of the most reviewed areas of law - and the Labour Government has just proposed another major review.

Justice Minister Kris Faafoi has used the fallacious argument that "much has changed since the 1950s but most of our electoral rules haven't".

Since the 1950s, the voting system has changed to MMP, electoral advertising rules have been overhauled twice, election donation rules have been overhauled, MMP has been reconfirmed in a referendum, and four-year terms have been rejected twice by referendums in 1967 and 1990.

Debate around a four-year term has been resurrected again because Labour was caught on the hop.

It was not ready for Government in 2017 when New Zealand First leader Winston Peters announced his party had chosen it as a Coalition partner.

It set up copious reviews to work out what to deliver, then took a long time to deliver and it was easier to blame the system or New Zealand First for the lack of urgency.

It is hard to think of the Government, or an Opposition party that thinks it will be in Government soon, that wouldn't support a four-year term over three years. But the best organised ones don't need it.

Justice Minister Kris Faafoi at Parliament last week. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The decision to undertake a major review of electoral law has been taken less than a year into the second term of the Labour Government and without having included such a policy in its election manifesto last year.

The suggestion that electoral donations law needed reviewing was made after donations to the Labour Party were subject to charges by the Serious Fraud Office.

Donations to National and New Zealand First have also been subject to charges and donations to the Māori Party subject to investigation.

That paints a picture of donations law actually working, not needing to be overhauled again.

But if Labour thought the electoral laws needed reviewing, it should have said so last year before the election.

While major changes are unlikely to be passed without a referendum, there is no reason that a major review that will begin and end its work this term could not have been foreshadowed by Labour in its election manifesto.

Even better, it could have promised it would implement the recommendations of the Electoral Commission review of MMP in 2012, which Labour wanted but National never implemented.

If that had happened, Labour would already have the mandate to implement changes such as lowering the five per cent threshold under MMP to four per cent, and abolishing the exemption for a threshold if a party wins a seat.

Instead, it has ordered another review for the umpteenth time.