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https://theconversation.com/throwing-voting-age-legislation-onto-the-policy-bonfire-only-delays-a-debate-that-has-to-happen-201754>
"There might have been pragmatic political reasons behind the government
throwing voting-age legislation onto its recent policy bonfire, but it remains
a sadly wasted opportunity.
The announcement reversed former prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s promise to
introduce legislation to lower the voting age to 16. That was in response to
the Supreme Court’s ruling last year that the current voting age of 18 was an
unjustifiable restriction on the right of 16- and 17-year-olds to be free from
age discrimination.
As the court acknowledged, ultimately it is up to parliament or New Zealand
voters to decide if and how to respond. But the court’s “declaration of
inconsistency” had a bit more constitutional heft due to a recent amendment to
the Bill of Rights Act.
Along with parliament’s standing orders (its “rules of procedure”), the law
change created a procedural pathway requiring parliament to respond to and
debate such a declaration within six months. Last year’s introduction of a bill
to lower the voting age was a first step in that democratic process.
The withdrawal of the bill leaves that process looking uncertain. The immediate
reason given was the apparent impossibility of it gaining the 75%
super-majority the bill needed to pass (the National Party and Act said they
would not support the legislation).
Not pushing a doomed bill through an expensive political process when the
country faces a cost-of-living crisis was clearly part of the government’s
thinking, too. But there will still be a price paid by young New Zealanders
denied the right to vote."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
