The Government will introduce a proposed law to lower the voting age to 16, the Prime Minister announced, in light of the Supreme Court judgment.

Today, the court decided the current voting age is unjustified discrimination, on the basis of age, under the Bill of Rights Act.

Jacinda Ardern says since the question of potentially lowering the voting age required at least 75 per cent support of Parliament, 'it should not just be a matter for consideration of the government of the day, but for the Parliament as a whole”.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement today. Photo: Taylor Rice.

'On that basis, Cabinet has resolved to draft a piece of legislation with a proposal to lower the age of voting for 16 for the whole of Parliament to consider,” says Ardern.

'If supported it would not take effect for the next general election.”

'The Electoral Commission would be key in determining when it could feasibly take effect of supported.

'Ultimately we see the best way for the matter to be resolved is for the whole parliament to vote on it,” she says.

Jumping to the other side of the aisle, National Party justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says the party does not support the lowering of the voting age.

Paul Goldsmith. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford/SunLive.

'Decisions around the voting age, like other electoral laws, are decisions for a democratically accountable Parliament to make," says Goldsmith.

'Many aspects of our electoral law are decided by referendum or a super-majority of the Parliament because of their constitutional importance.

'National's priorities in justice are reducing violent, youth and gang crime, as well as clearing Court backlogs.

'With violent crime up by 21 per cent, a 50 per cent increase in gang membership and a 500 per cent increase in ram-raids, these are pressing matters the Labour Government are failing to get under control.

'That is why National announced its plan to crack down on serious repeat youth offenders like ram-raiders to turn their lives around and to protect the public.

'Many other countries have a voting age of 18, and National has seen no compelling case to lower the age.”

The ACT Party also says they "reject calls" to lower the voting age to 16 following the Supreme Court's ruling.

ACT Party leader David Seymour. Photo: Taylor Rice/SunLive.

'We don't want 120,000 more voters who pay no tax voting for lots more spending. The Supreme Court needs to stick to its knitting and quit the judicial activism," says Seymour.

'Regardless of what the Supreme Court says, the voting age is an entrenched provision in the Electoral Act 1993 so it would require 75 per cent of MPs to vote for the change. In other words, it won't happen.

'The general public don't want it either. A 2020 1 News poll found that just 13 per cent of New Zealanders want the age lowered.

'There is nothing stopping 16-year-olds from getting involved in politics already if they're so inclined and ACT encourages them to do so. The more political savvy and tuned in people are when they do become eligible to vote the better.

"My proposition to 16 and 17 year old voters is this. There's only a two out of three chance that you'll get an extra vote out of this, but you will pay extra tax for whatever crazy thing 16 and 17 year olds voted for at the last election.

'If Parliament does consider lowering the voting age ACT will be voting against it.”