The Mayor and Councillors have no legitimate mandate to commit Kapiti to what would be a fundamental constitutional law change as they have not consulted with their constituents on the subject and to our knowledge none of them mentioned it during the elections.
Of course, the underlying strategy and clear intention is clear and if all councils follow Kapiti, Jacinda Ardern would be able to claim all of ‘Aotearoa’ supports the change.
Will the other Councillors whimper and please the Mayor and her Labour acolytes or will they rebel and say “no, we have not consulted with Kapiti people on this fundamental constitutional issue”?
Update
The motion as above was passed by 6 votes to 3 with one abstention and one absent. It seems that the voting age can be lowered to 16 in council elections by Parliament by a simple majority of 51%, but a 75% majority is required for that to happen in respect of Parliamentary elections. The National and ACT parties have ruled out support for the latter.
In my view this is absolutley unacceptable in the absence of wide consultation. One hopes that others at the Council table will demonstrate their commitment to sound constitutional practice.
To carry out the thought process required to decide on which party to vote for is a complicated business. There are many aspects and factors to consider is deciding what is best for the voter and the country. Young people are easily swayed by rhetoric that claim to provide what they want. Older mature people are more likely to weigh the important factors that would benefit the whole community.
Consequently I am against lowering the voting age.
Barrington Prince