Referendums in New Zealand

New Zealand

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of New Zealand

Constitution Executive (The Crown) Sovereign (Queen Elizabeth II) Governor-General of New Zealand (Anand Satyanand) Executive Council Cabinet Prime Minister (John Key) Ministries Government of New Zealand Legislative (Parliament) Statute of Westminster 1931 Current Parliament (49th) House of Representatives Speaker of the House (Lockwood Smith) Official Opposition Leader of the Opposition (Phil Goff) Referendums Elections Parliamentary constituencies Electoral system Electoral reform Last election (2008) Judicial Supreme Court Chief Justice (Sian Elias) Courts of Appeal High Court District Courts Environment Court Māori Land Court Regions and territories Realm of New Zealand Territorial authorities of New Zealand North Island South Island Stewart Island/Rakiura Chatham Islands General Regions Political culture Foreign relations New Zealand's nuclear-free zone Comparison of Australian and New Zealand governments Political parties

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view • talk • edit

Referendums (or referenda) are held only occasionally by the Government of New Zealand. Ten referendums have been held so far (excluding referendums on alcohol licensing, which were held triennially between 1894 and 1989). Seven were government-led, and three were citizen "initiatives".

Government referendums

The government of New Zealand may, at any time, call for a referendum on any issue, but must pass enabling legislation first, otherwise the resulting referenda will be indicative, not binding on central government. This provision allows some parliamentary scrutiny of the issue and wording of the question. There is no constraint on whether an issue is to be decided by the New Zealand Parliament or by the public. The only exceptions to this are the term of Parliament and several other aspects of the electoral process,^[1] which can be changed only through a referendum or by at least 75% of MPs voting for the change. This has led to the sporadic use of referendums, partly because there is no constitutional requirement, as there is in other countries like Australia or Switzerland that have codified constitutions.

Constitutional referendums

There is no requirement for a referendum to enact constitutional change in New Zealand. The most recent such referendum was to decide the nature of electoral reform in New Zealand. Many groups advocate constitutional reform by referendums; for example, the Republican Movement supports a referendum on whether New Zealand should become a republic. Recently the government replaced the Privy Council as New Zealand's highest court of appeal with the new Supreme Court of New Zealand despite calls from New Zealand First, National and ACT for a referendum to be called on the issue.

However, there are frequent calls for the use of referendums to decide constitutional matters. The term of Parliament may be changed only either through a referendum or by a 75% majority of MPs.^[2] Both the establishment of the Supreme Court of New Zealand (2003) and the abolition of the New Zealand Legislative Council (1950) were done though regular Acts of Parliament and were not subjected to referendums.

Liquor licensing referendums

In New Zealand, alcohol licensing has historically been decided by referendum. The first of these were compulsory local licensing referendums, held in 1894 and then with each main parliamentary election between 1896 and 1914. Local licensing referendums were eliminated after 1914, apart from 'local restoration polls' to legalise liquor sales in 'dry' districts. In 1910 a referendum on national prohibition of alcohol was introduced, and held in conjunction with every general election from 1911 to 1987 inclusive (except 1931 and 1951). An extra prohibition referendum was also held in April 1919. From 1919 an additional option of state control of liquor sales was added to the ballot. The Sale of Liquor Act 1989 abolished the national liquor referendum. Local restoration polls were still held in areas that were still 'dry', but the last three, Mount Eden, Mount Roskill and Tawa, all became 'wet' in 1999. There have been two referendums on pub closing times.

Other referendums

The government may call referendums on any issues on which it wishes. These will usually be on issues on which the government is split. For the 1997 referendum on retirement savings, the decision to hold it was part of the coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First.

Citizens initiated referendums

The Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 allows for citizens to propose a referendum. These are non-binding referendums on any issue in which proponents have submitted a petition to Parliament signed by 10% of all registered electors within 12 months. Based on the roll of the 2005 general election, organisers would need to gather 284,740 signatures at the average rate of 780 a day. It costs NZ$500 to file a petition asking for a referendum with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The Clerk formally determines the wording of the question, which may be quite different from the original. The poll must be held within 12 months unless 75% of MPs vote to delay the poll for one year. There is also a $50,000 spending limit on promoting the petition.

New Zealand, Italy, and Switzerland are the only countries whose legislatures citizens initiated referendums (CIRs) nationally. Its defenders view it as a form of "direct democracy" However, the Citizens Initiated Referendum 1993 went against the advice of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System 1986. The Commission stated "In general, initiatives and referendums are blunt and crude devices.... [that] would blur the lines of accountability and responsibility of Governments".

A total of 33 petitions have been launched since 1993 on a wide range of topics.^{[citation needed]} Only three have come to a vote, because all the other proposals failed to gain enough signatures to force a referendum. The target number for signatures is the key to looking at the initiative proposed by citizens.

Firefighters

The first citizens initiated referendum was held in 1995. The question "Should the number of professional fire-fighters employed full-time in the New Zealand Fire Service be reduced below the number employed in 1 January 1995?" was unusual in that it aimed to elicit a "no" response. Turnout was low and the measure was voted down easily, with just over 12% voting "Yes" and almost 88% voting "No.^[3]

1999 election

At the 1999 election two referendums were put before voters. One was on whether the number of Members of Parliament should be reduced from 120 to 99. Electors overwhelmingly voted in favour of the proposal, with 81.47% voting for this proposal. However, there were no moves to amend the Electoral Act 1993 in line with this result until 2006 when a bill was introduced by New Zealand First MP Barbara Stewart to reduce the size of Parliament to 100. The bill passed its first reading by 61 votes to 60. It seems unlikely to pass into law as many parties stated they were supporting it only to Select Committee stage.

The other referendum held in 1999 asked "Should there be a reform of our Justice system placing greater emphasis on the needs of victims, providing restitution and compensation for them and imposing minimum sentences and hard labour for all serious violent offences?". This measure passed by 91.78%.

Criminalisation of Parental Corporal Punishment

Following the submission of a petition on 22 August 2008, the Clerk of the House verified to parliament that the threshold for a CIR had been reached. Supporters said they would like it to be held with the 2008 election, however it will be a postal vote in August 2009.

This was the second attempt to collect enough signatures to force a referendum on the 2007 amendment of Section 59 of the Crimes Act, the "anti-smacking" law which removed the defence of "reasonable force" for a parent hitting their child, at the 2008 general election.^[4] However, when assessed by officials, a sample of 30,000 signatures revealed too many inconsistencies. This led officials to announce that the petition did not meet the threshold. Larry Baldock, a member of The Kiwi Party, replied that they had three months to resubmit the petition, and had collected 20,000 more signatures. He was also critical of the sample method, citing that statisticians apply an assessment of the sample which is extended to the entire petition. He believed that statistical error of that sample is not considered in their assessment.^[5]

Should referendums be binding?

The perceived lack of implementation of successful referendums has led to calls for such referendums to be made binding on the government of the day, similar to the direct democracy said to exist in Switzerland. ACT New Zealand, Family First New Zealand, the Sensible Sentencing Trust and Kiwi Party all advocate binding referenda. By contrast, GayNZ.com has run articles strongly critical of the CIR lobby, as well as expressing concerns that CIRs could be abused to strip vulnerable minorities of their legislative protections, as has occurred frequently with referenda against same-sex marriage in the United States and similar proposals that target illegal immigrants in that country.^[6]

More recently, there has been additional criticism from prominent New Zealand legal academics, such as Andrew Geddis and Bridget Fenton at Otago University. They argue that CIRs are no substitute for more deliberative processes within the existing framework of representative democracy, such as joining political parties, protest marches, voting within general elections and parliamentary select committee submissions^[7] Current New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also opposes binding referenda on fiscal grounds, noting that California's contradictory tax cap and public spending referenda have made state fiscal management chaotic ^{[8] [9]}

Table of petitions and referendums

The following table lists those petition questions lodged with Clerk of the House from 1993 to 2005.^[10]

The 1999 referendums were held in conjunction with the 1999 general election, which is likely to have played a role in the high proportion of voters.

Local government

Local government (regional councils, territorial councils and District Health Boards) may hold referendum on issues which they feel their citizens need to be consulted upon. Referendums have been held on water fluoridation, changing the electoral system to Single Transferable Vote and merging authorities together.

See also

• New Zealand elections
• Electoral system of New Zealand
• New Zealand constitution

Notes

References

• Atkinson, Neill. Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand. Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2003.
• Catt, Helena. "The Other Democratic Experiment: New Zealand’s Experience with Citizens’ Initiated Referendum." Political Science 48, no. 1 (1996): 29-47.
• Church, Stephen. "Crime and Punishment: The Referenda to Reform the Criminal Justice System and Reduce the Size of Parliament." In Left Turn: The New Zealand General Election of 1999, edited by Jonathan Boston, Stephen Church, Stephen Levine, Elizabeth McLeay and Nigel S. Roberts. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2000.
• James, Colin. "Riding into Battle over Socially and Morally Divisive Bills." New Zealand Herald, July 29, 2003.
• Miller, R. ed. New Zealand Government and Politics 4th edition, 2006, OUP
• New Zealand Press Association. "Referendum Call on Māori Seats" The Dominion, 5 MAY 1999, 2.
• Palmer, Geoffrey, and Matthew Palmer. Bridled Power: New Zealand's Constitution and Government. fourth ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Parkinson, John. "Who Knows Best? The Creation of the Citizen-Initiated Referendum in New Zealand." Government and Opposition 36, no. 3 ( 2001): 403 - 21.
• Prince, John D. "Look Back in Amber: The General Licensing Poll in New Zealand, 1919-87." Political Science 48, no. 1 (1996): 48-72.
• Simpson, Alan (editor), Referendums: Constitutional and Political Perspectives, Wellington: Occasional Publication No.5, Department of Politics, Victoria University of Wellington, 1992.
• The Political Economy of Six O’Clock Closing (in New Zealand) Tim Mulcare. (Rich Text Format)

Relevant Overseas References

• David Broder: Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money: Harvest Books: 2001.
• Richard Ellis: Democratic Delusions: The Initiative Process in America: University of Kansas Press: 2002.
• Peter Schrag: Paradise Lost: Calfornia's Experience, America's Future? New York: New Press: 1998.

External links

• Organising New Zealand Referendums Online
• Elections NZ
• Better Democracy
• Ministry of Justice
• Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993
• Referenda (Postal Voting) Act 2000

v • d • e Elections and referendums in New Zealand General elections 1853 · 1855 · 1860–61 · 1866 · 1871 · 1875–76 · 1879 · 1881 · 1884 · 1887 · 1890 · 1893 · 1896 · 1899 · 1902 · 1905 · 1908 · 1911 · 1914 · 1919 · 1922 · 1925 · 1928 · 1931 · 1935 · 1938 · 1943 · 1946 · 1949 · 1951 · 1954 · 1957 · 1960 · 1963 · 1966 · 1969 · 1972 · 1975 · 1978 · 1981 · 1984 · 1987 · 1990 · 1993 · 1996 · 1999 · 2002 · 2005 · 2008  · 2011  · By-elections Referendums Alcohol licensing, 1896–87 · Gambling, 1949 · Military training, 1949 · Pub closing time and alcohol licensing, 1949 · Pub closing time and parliamentary term, 1967 · Parliamentary term, 1990 · Voting method, 1992 · Voting method, 1993 · Firefighters, 1995 · Pensions, 1997 · Justice, 1999 · MP reduction, 1999 · Smacking, 2009 · Voting method, 2011