Early signs suggest Labour keen on lower voting age

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern supports lowering the voting age - most of her party agrees with her. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour MPs appear keen to lower the voting age to 16, at least for local body elections.

Filing into their regular caucus meeting today, an overwhelming majority of the 33 Labour MPs spoken to by Herald reporters said they backed lowering the voting age. Some ministers, such as Transport Minister Michael Wood were equivocal in their support, saying they were “positively disposed” towards lowering the voting age for local elections, but less keen for general elections.

Thirty MPs have expressed support for lowering the age, two opposed it, and 1 sat on the fence. Labour has a 64 MP caucus, meaning 33 MPs are required to pass a motion on a bare majority.

Lowering the age for local body elections now looks likely. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday that the Government would introduce legislation to lower the voting age to 16. This legislation would address the voting age in general and local elections, which is currently 18. This was in response to the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to issue a declaration of inconsistency, saying the 18 age was a limitation on people’s rights under the Bill of Rights and was not justified.

Parliament and the Government have to respond to that declaration and will do so over the coming months.

Changing the voting age for general elections would require a 75 per cent majority in Parliament or a referendum. National and Act have said they do not support a change, meaning the possibility of lowering the general election voting age is almost nonexistent.

However, the local body voting age can be changed with a bare majority, meaning Labour can change the age on its own. The Greens also support a change.

Ardern said yesterday she did not know how her MPs would vote on the legislation to lower the voting age, as it had not been drafted or even put to caucus.

But she said she supported lowering the voting age and, based on a poll of Labour MPs this morning, it looks like most Labour MPs agree with her.

Opposition to lowering the age came from Attorney-General David Parker, who said changing the age was up to Parliament or a referendum, but gave his personal view to reporters.

“I’m happy with 18. For me it’s a combination of still depending on parents and can’t serve in the military and often at school at the age of 16,” Parker said.

“There’s a balance here, people put different emphasis on different factors.”

Labour could decide to turn the issue into a conscience vote. Ardern said in her post-Cabinet press conference that this was a decision for the Speaker, but in reality Labour’s caucus could decide to give each MP a free vote.

Parker said any decision on that would be left to caucus and would not say whether he wanted a conscience vote.

Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson opposed lowering the age but said he “could be persuaded”.

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson supported lowering the voting age for general and local body elections, but was realistic about the fact that lowering the general election voting age was unlikely.

“At a personal level I’d be supportive of that. I’ve said for a long time it needs to be accompanied by greater civics education in our schools and I still think that, but I think when an issue like this gets presented to Parliament it’s important that you stand by your conscience and what you believe on it,” Robertson said.

Robertson said reaching the 75 per cent majority in Parliament to change the general election voting age would be difficult but changing the local election voting age offered an opportunity to “road test” a change.

Wood was lukewarm on changing the general election voting age, but supportive of changing it for local elections.

“We’ve clearly got an issue in local government where we have very low turnout, we need to make sure we’re engaging people more in the process. Many of the issues in local government are very relevant to young people,” he said.

Support also came from the likes of Parliamentary undersecretary Deborah Russell.

“There are as many sensible 16 and 17-year-olds as there are sensible 40-year-olds,” she said.

Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said 16- and 17-year-olds “understand what impact politics has... I think at that age, they should be able to make a decision”.