RockEnrol welcomed by Maori Party
The Maori Party is extremely pleased that a group of young musicians has established RockEnrol to support more young
people to participate in voting.
“Youth and Maori voter turnout is low in New Zealand, and anyone who is stepping up to help tackle that issue deserves
to be praised and recognised for their work,” says Co-Leader Te Ururoa Flavell.
“The Maori Party has raised the issue of low voter turnout with the Electoral Commission several times, and have asked
questions of the Minister of Justice in the House, and yet no one in our system has taken responsibility for addressing
it.”
“We’ve repeatedly raised low voter turnout, particularly amongst Maori and rangatahi, as a serious issue facing our
democracy. As a political party we have taken it on ourselves to get people enrolled, and to take up their right to have
a say over who governs the country. It’s always been hard for us to be able to reach a wider audience, however, because
we are a political party. RockEnrol is really filling a critical void in our system, because we believe it can reach far
and wide and get the message to vote out to our young people.”
“Rangatahi absolutely have the power to make a difference if they vote. In the Maori seats particularly, they could
wield significant influence – and totally shape the make-up of the government in this election,” says Te Ururoa Flavell.
“We need our young people to recognise the power that they have. I welcome the initiative of RockEnrol and wish them
well. We are 100% behind them and will continue to also support more Maori and young people onto the electoral roll.”
ENDS