Prisoner Voting Ban, Whakaata Māori Funding, ECC Recommendations w/ Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Kemp: 5 May, 2025

Recently, the government has announced banning voting rights for all prisoners.

This changes previous legislation implemented by the former Labour government in 2020 - allowing prisoners serving a sentence less than three years the right to vote.

Previously, in 2015, the High Court ruled that a blanket approach to banning voting rights for prisoners goes against the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

For our weekly catch up, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about this move, and how the party is feeling about it.

They also discussed the party’s calls for significantly more funding for Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025, as well as Cabinet agreeing to recommendations to the ECE, or early childhood education, sector.

But first, they discussed the blanket ban on prisoners voting.