On Wednesday this week the Justice Select Committee opened submissions into its review of the Supreme Court’s declaration that preventing 16 and 17 year-olds from voting is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights. It had initially been announced in November 2022 that the committee would consider this and a Bill to lower the voting age at the same time, making it a signal that the government is going slow on the Bill. This comes just one day after Dunedin City Council joined Christchurch City, Wellington City, Porirua City, Hutt City, and Kapiti Coast District Councils in supporting a voting age of 16.

“The government has broken its promise to rangatahi and to Parliament for the committee to consider the declaration alongside a Bill. They must fix that by introducing a Bill now” says Make It 16 co-director Caeden Tipler (they/them).

“A Bill is important because it gives Parliament the power to actually change the law and uphold our human rights. Instead the government has waited 3 months, not introduced a Bill, and allowed just 2 weeks for young people to submit to the select committee on the declaration. Young people and our human rights deserve better.”

“It is especially poor in light of the strong support for lowering the voting age for local elections from the government’s own Review into the Future of Local Government and many of our largest councils, including Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin, Hutt City, and Porirua. The government should not be ignoring their voices and the voices of rangatahi.”

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