Labour has proposed withholding state support such as tax credits and Working For Families from people who are not enrolled to vote.Remember when Labour was the defender of the poor and downtrodden? Yeah, not so much. Now its all "fuck you if you don't vote for us", driven by a king-sized sense of entitlement and electoral self-interest. And then they wonder why people don't want anything to do with them...
The measure could be justified if it lifts New Zealand's low voter turnout, the party says.
Getting the vote out is a priority for Labour and in its submission to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee, written by Labour's general secretary Tim Barnett, the party argues for the idea to be considered.
New Zealand already has compulsory enrolment, and anyone who "knowingly and wilfully fails to apply" is liable to a fine of $100. But no-one is ever prosecuted because the Electoral Commission has no idea whether failure to enrol is knowing and wilful. Increasing the penalty to cutting off benefits is both grossly disproportionate, and arguably discrimination on the basis of political opinion (which includes the lack of a particular political opinion or any political opinion), in violation of section 19 of the Bill of Rights Act. But Labour doesn't care about that - all it cares about is getting votes so its apparatchiks can get fat salaries...