Today, for the first time, Parliament will debate a bill to allow 16-year-olds to vote and be elected as councillors – a law change quietly introduced in the final days before the House rises
A small group of teenagers plan to take their seats in the Speaker's Gallery in Parliament this afternoon, to watch the first reading of a bill that would extend them the franchise in local government elections.
As they see it, it's a new chance for our Parliament to lead the world, as it did when New Zealand was the first nation to give women the vote, in 1893. "As a group, we do care a lot about what's happening in the future," says 15-year-old Thomas Brocherie, co-director of the Make It 16 campaign. "For example, climate policy right now is not fast enough, and that's something that a lot of 16- and 17-year-olds will want to improve."
READ MORE: * Govt advised to lower voting age after poor local election turnout * Lower voting age and longer terms for local councils
First, local elections. Then the next step, the justice select committee has recommended, is for the incoming government to investigate lowering the voting age in Parliamentary elections, as well.
But some local government veterans are dubious. Hauraki mayor Toby Adams doubts his kids would have given the vote the respect it deserved, as teens.
"My 16-year-olds packed a tuddy when you told them to clean their room – so imagine if a decision didn't go their way around the council table!" – Toby Adams, Hauraki mayor
"If I look at my own children, and the people that they hang out with, they barely know what they want to do for a career at 16. So if that's the thought process on where their life is going in the next two years' time, how can they be making robust decisions about government that's could alter people's lives for a generation?"
His kids are now aged 21 and 23, and he still can't persuade them to vote – so he doubts that 16 and 17 years old will cast their ballots in any great numbers. "My 16-year-olds packed a tuddy* when you told them to clean their room – so imagine if a decision didn't go their way around the council table!"
Napier mayor Kirsten Wise retorts: "There are 40- and 50-year olds who still throw tantrums around the council table."
She was one of 73 elected members who signed an open letter to the Prime Minister, calling for the law change. She tells Newsroom it's a historic move. "And when you look at other countries that have already lowered the voting age, they're getting some really positive engagement. So I do think it's a step in the right direction."
"Sixteen and 17-year-olds, we’re told we’re not smart enough to vote. But going back 200 years, women were told the same thing. And people who didn’t own land were told the same thing." – Caeden Tipler, Make It 16
The campaign has been driven by young lobbyists in Make It 16. They took it to Tiktok, they took it to the streets, they took it to Parliament, they took it to the Supreme Court.
The court ruled last year that a voting age of 18 was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act, which bars discrimination against any person from the age of 16. Make It 16 co-director Caeden Tipler greeted media on the court's steps, triumphant. "Sixteen and 17-year-olds, we’re told we’re not smart enough to vote. But going back 200 years, women were told the same thing. And people who didn’t own land were told the same thing."
That court judgment came just a month after an unprecedented poor voter turnout in local government elections prompted tough questions about how to improve public engagement.
Jacinda Ardern was Prime Minister at the time, and announced the Government would lower the voting age in both Parliamentary and council elections – but in subsequent months that proved too hard, and Chris Hipkins' Government moderated its ambitions.
"It's highly simplistic to think that the reduction of the voting age is going to drive a significant increase in the engagement level in local government... Young people are the group that has the lowest proportionate turnout in voting, of any group. So simply by adding in more young people, you're going to dilute the overall turnout." – Simon Watts, National MP
In June this year, both the justice select committee and the independent Review into the Future for Local Government recommended lowering the voting age in council elections.
Unlike changing the parliamentary voting age which would require a referendum or a 75 percent majority of MPs, the voting age in local elections can be legislated by a simple majority vote.
But Toby Adams says that decision, too, should go to a referendum – rather than be quietly introduced in the shadow of a pending election.
According to a departmental disclosure statement, the only consultation was with Local Government NZ and Taituarā, an association representing council staff. "No other external consultation was possible due to the timeframe for introducing the Bill," the statement says.
The Department of Internal Affairs estimates that by 2028 there will be approximately 134,000 16- and 17-year-olds living in New Zealand who may be eligible to enrol to vote.
The bill comes with privileges, responsibilities and liabilities for young people. They face fines of up to $200 of they fail to register on the electoral roll. And. Young offenders serving custodial sentences won't be allowed to vote – a rule that's been contentious for their adult counterparts.
And they won't be allowed to vote for, or serve on, alcohol licensing trusts or community trusts, nor be called to serve on a jury.
"This leads people to generalise that all 16 and 17-year-olds go around ram raiding and stabbing people, and that's just not the case. It is harming the entire group of young people as the majority, not because we're committing crimes but because we're being associated with them." – Thomas Brocherie, Make It 16
If the bill passes its first test today, it will be referred to a select committee after the election – and depending on who is in government, its prospects may be better or worse.
National's Simon Watts and the Act Party's Simon Court both told mayors and councillors they opposed lowering the voting age, in the Newsroom Political Debate at last month's Local Government NZ conference in Christchurch. "It's highly simplistic to think that the reduction of the voting age is going to drive a significant increase in the engagement level in local government," Watts said. "It is simply not going to happen.
"Young people are the group that has the lowest proportionate turnout in voting, of any group. So simply by adding in more young people, you're going to dilute the overall turnout."
Scotland lowered its voting age to 16 ahead of the independence referendum in 2014. A University of Edinburgh study, by Dr Jan Eichhorn and Dr Christine Hübner, shows 16 and 17 year olds are engaged and are likely to build better voting habits.
Thomas Brocherie, who is from Christchurch, says there's a huge wave of support there, and around the country.
But the debate about lowering the voting age has also elicited visceral reactions from older people, especially in some corners of social media.
"The big thing would probably be the stereotypes around 16 and 17 year olds – you hear a lot in the news today about ram raids and crimes being committed," he says. "And of course, these things do happen and they are happening at higher rates. But this leads people to generalise that all 16 and 17-year-olds go around ram raiding and stabbing people, and that's just not the case.
"It is harming the entire group of young people as the majority, not because we're committing crimes but because we're being associated with them."
Brocherie says the young members of Make It 16, especially those who use social media more, have faced abuse and vitriol. "There are a lot of nasty things said in the replies, sometimes, but we don't use that as a reason to stop. We use it as a reason to fight harder."
* According to the Urban Dictionary, a 'tuddy' is when someone exhibits too much attitude towards others.
