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Local body politicians will team up with rangatahi representatives Targets China
tonight in Y Vote , a live online panel exploring the debate around JCB Launches Second Round Of Red
lowering Aotearoas voting age to 16. Held via Zoom at 7pm
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tonight, Thursday 18 May, and facilitated by youth …
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Local body politicians will team up with rangatahi representatives Takapuna Retail Defies Economic
tonight in Y Vote, a live online panel exploring the debate around Uncertainty: June Sees Remarkable
lowering Aotearoa’s voting age to 16. Growth In Spending And Transactions
“We Need Our ‘Can-Do’ Attitude Back”
Held via Zoom at 7pm tonight, Thursday 18 May, and facilitated
by youth magazine founder Lola of Create Happy Media, the Financial Literacy Teaches Young Kiwis
panel is made up of four rangatahi representatives from Make it Self-Management
16 and Save the Children New Zealand alongside Far North
Mayor Moko Tepania, Board member Apulu Reece Autagavaia,
Auckland councillor Kerrin Leoni and Kāpiti Coast District  
Councillor Sophie Handford, who was elected at the age of 18 as
one of Aotearoa’s youngest councillors.

Attendees will also have an opportunity to put their own questions

to the panel.

“The Y Vote panel discussion aims to create deeper

understanding on youth voting – an issue that is currently poorly

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8/14/23, 2:46 PM Pacific.scoop.co.nz » Politicians & Youth Speak Up On Lowering NZ’s Voting Age
understood, yet is important not only for rangatahi, but all New
Zealanders,” says Save the Children New Zealand’s Advocacy
Director Jacqui Southey.

“By exploring the debate around lowering Aotearoa’s voting age

together, including the merits and controversy, we can work
towards an outcome that ensures young people have their rights
upheld, while being heard on issues that matter to them.”

The event, part of Youth Week 2023, follows last year’s Supreme
Court ruling in favour of the Make it 16 campaign that paved the
way for this law change that the provisions of the Electoral Act
1993 and the Local Electoral Act 2001 were inconsistent with the
rights declared in the New Zealand Bill of Rights, which states the
right to be free from discrimination on the basis of age.

The panel aims to foster constructive conversations with youth  

and the wider public about this important issue, drawing from
international precedents where the voting age has been lowered
and amplifying the voices of rangatahi who have led the Make it
16 movement across Aotearoa.

Public or media wishing to attend the event can do so here via

Eventbrite or watch Live on Save the Children NZ’s Facebook
page.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Amie Richardson, Communications Director, 027 248 6478

amie.richardson@scnz.org.nz

About the Make it 16 movement

Make It 16 is a non-partisan youth-led campaign advocating for

the vote to be extended to 16 and 17-year-olds in Aotearoa. We
believe in the power of youth voice, and letting young people
have a say on the decisions that will impact them the most. There  
are lots of reasons why we believe in lowering the voting age, but
fundamentally voting is a human right. There is insufficient
justification to stop 16-year-olds from voting when we can drive,
work full time and pay tax.

Make it 16 was formed out of Youth Parliament in September of

2019. Our launching event was hosted by Chlöe Swarbrick and
featured speeches from many people including then Children’s
Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft, Wellington City Councillor
Tamatha Paul, Labour MP Greg O’Connor and many more. “In
the past three years our campaign has won a Supreme Court
case, gained over 7,000 signatures for our first ever petition,
handed over multiple open letters, and written submissions to
select committees – all to convince the government and public
that we should lower the voting age, and we have been so
successful that a bill will be drafted this year to lower the voting
age to 16 for local elections.
 
 
We pride ourselves on being the first country in the world to give
women the right to vote, and although there are at least a dozen
countries with a voting age of 16 already, we can be next. Youth-
led activism in Aotearoa – past and present – has highlighted how
16 and 17-year-olds both want and need a voice in our
democracy.

About Save the Children

Save the Children was founded in 1919 and is the world’s leading
independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries
around the world, responding to emergencies and working with
children and their communities to ensure children survive, learn
and are protected. In Aotearoa we advocate for change to
improve child wellbeing, realise children’s rights and ensure
children and youth voices are heard. We support the Make it 16
movement and call on the Government to re-prioritise action on
introducing a new Bill to lower the voting age to 16.
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