Monday 10 October 2011

Mana to campaign for Vote 16

MANA wants 16 & 17 year olds to have the vote says Social Wellbeing spokesperson Sue Bradford.

“It is time we allowed our rangatahi to have a say in what sort of country they will inherit,” she says.

“As a nation we are very keen to find fault with our young people, but slow to recognise their contribution and to give them the opportunity to participate in the decisions that determine their future.”

Ms Bradford says that the new voting age should be introduced alongside measures to include civics education as part of the core education curriculum.

“We want to see the school curriculum include education about the political conventions, mechanisms and underpinnings of central and local government and the legal system including Te Tiriti of Waitangi and He Whakaputanga o Nga Rangatiratanga o Niu Tireni.

“The number of young people enrolling to vote has dropped over 10 percent since 2008and sits at only 72 percent.

“Young people are sending us a message that they feel excluded from the rest of society and we urgently need to do something about this.”

“I developed a Members Bill ‘Civics Education and Voting Age Bill’ in June 2007 but was prevented from putting it into the parliamentary ballot by the Green Party who thought the idea of young people voting was too radical.”

“MANA takes the hopes and dreams of our rangatahi seriously and we think the combination of lowering the voting age and providing education about how the system works will help demonstrate that.”

Mana Rangatahi Ikaroa-Rawhiti representative, Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti, aged 17, is delighted to be supporting Mana’s Vote 16 campaign.

“Our rangatahi are contributing to an economy that affects them. They should have the right to vote for somebody who expresses their interests.”

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