Low voter turnout is a perennial issue but Parliament is hoping to buck the trend with workshops aimed at those under the voting age. Irra Lee attended one of the workshops.
Xyryll Gayagoy, 17 and Zoe Williams-Verahey, 16 attend a workshop on how to make submissions on bills Photo: Irra Lee
As a representative democracy, Parliament has an interest in ensuring the consideration of the views of as many New Zealanders as possible when creating policies.
One way it does this is through the House of Representatives — called so for its representative nature of the country — which is elected every three years through a general election.
But being too young to vote doesn’t mean youth can’t have a say.
Before a bill is passed by the House, it goes through a committee made up of a cross-party selection of MPs.
The select committee stage allows MPs to comb through its details and receive feedback from the public through submissions.
Unlike an election, there’s no age limit for submitters and the Parliamentary Engagement Team hopes its step-by-step workshop for youth about how to make a submission will attract more younger voices.
“I know a lot of young people feel disengaged because of the voting age … but they have the ability to change things now,” said workshop co-ordinator Eva Maffey.
“They are going to be our next generation of MPs. They’re going to be our next generation of decision-makers.
“It’s important that they’re equipped to deal with that.”
Eva Maffey Parliamentary Engagement Strategy Coordinator from the Office of the Clerk, Parliament Photo: Irra Lee
Ms Maffey said the Parliamentary Engagement Team was also working towards the Parliamentary Engagement Strategy. The strategy is aimed at increasing the accessibility of Parliament to all New Zealanders, especially future voters.
She said the plan came out of a shift in thinking that it was not enough for Parliament to simply disseminate information.
“This strategy was a realisation it’s not enough to just talk to people. We need to involve them,” she said.
“Something that we’ve realised is that it [engagement] can’t be on our own terms sort of thing. It’s very easy to say ‘come in to Parliament, come and do a tour. Come watch question time’. That puts all of the onus on the public,” she said.
“Something that has been really important to us in engagement is actually going out to where the people are.”
Ms Maffey said she hoped the workshop sparked further interest in Parliament and empowered people to write their own submissions.
Workshop participant Zoe Williams-Verahey,16, said she found the workshop helpful because making submissions was not something a lot of youth knew about.
“I’ve learnt so much about the process and just how easy it is to make a submission,” she said.
Xyryll Gayagoy, 17, said being able to attend the workshop was a great way for Parliament to include young people.
“I realised that New Zealand really cares about our democracy,” she said.
Both said they would likely make their own submissions in the future.
Ministers, too, are getting in on the action
Chris Hipkins, the Minister of Education, also recognised the benefit of hearing from young people. His Ministerial Youth Advisory Group, formed in 2017 and now entering its third iteration, was initially created to capture what youth thought about education.
Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
However, he soon discovered they were interested in a whole lot more around Government policy, to the point other ministers were also paying attention to the group.
“I hope, across Government, we’ll see more of these types of things developed. Young people are engaged. They are interested,” Mr Hipkins said.
He said although Parliament was on its way to better engaging with young people, “I think we’ve got a way to go”.
“Parliament now is making much more of an effort to communicate with the full diversity of New Zealanders.”
