The Facts About Binding Referendums

Objectives

  1. The results of all successful referendums should be binding on the New Zealand Government subject to point 2 below.
  2. A successful referendums result may be vetoed by the vote of 75% of all Members of Parliament within 30 days of the referendum result being declared.
  3. A Referendum Panel should be instituted comprising of three retired High Court Judges with one of the members to be replaced every three years. The Leaders of the three political parties obtaining the highest party vote at the previous general election will each elect one of the Referendum Panel members. The purpose of the Referendum Panel is to approve the wording of any referendum question to make sure it is well focused, not misleading, ambiguous, biased or confusing in any way. This is to be done in consultation with the referendum Initiator but the Referendum Panel will have the final say if all parties can not agree. The Referendum Panel will also approve the wording of the Referendum Pamphlet and Referendum Website which will state the for and against arguments of the referendum issue in a constructive and informative manner.
  4. A government department or a branch of a government department or the Clerk of the House of Representatives office will prepare an objective Referendum Pamphlet and Referendum Website taking into account the referendum Initiators feedback and public feedback, stating the facts for and against the issue of the referendum. The Referendum Pamphlet is to be disseminated to every voter at least 90 days prior to a referendum. The Referendum Website must be available to the public at least 90 days prior to a referendum. The Referendum Pamphlet and Referendum Website must first be approved by the Referendum Panel before being made available to the public.
  5. Any law changed by a referendum can only be changed by another referendum.
  6. The number of signatures required to be collected to trigger a binding referendum will be reduced to 100,000 of those registered on the electoral roll. Switzerland requires only 50,000 signatures to be collected even though they have a population almost twice that of New Zealand.
  7. Conscience Votes in parliament should be abolished. All contentious issues that would have been subject to a conscience vote will be put to a nationwide binding referendum rather than the conscience of a few MP's in a close vote.
  8. There will automatically be binding referendums on all Constitutional changes prior to any changes being made by Parliament.
  9. No international treaty should be adopted until it is ratified by a referendum.
  10. There should be a public right to Recall (remove) any elected official and to hold another election for that position, upon the collection of 100,000 signatures of those registered on the electoral roll.
  11. There should be a spending limit of $100,000 on advertisements published or broadcast in relation to a referendum petition and a further $100,000 on advertisements promoting one of the answers to the precise question to be put to voters in a referendum. Such costs are to be at the expense of the referendum Initiator. Any advertisement published or broadcast either for or against the referendum petition, or for or against one of the answers to the precise question to be put to voters in a referendum, must clearly show the name and address of the person or organisation paying for the advertisement. The penalty for those not staying within these requirements should be a fine of up to $100,000.

Many avid supporters of binding referendums may take issue with point 2 above which allows 75% of Members of Parliament to veto a successful referendum. We thought long and hard before including this point because we believe it is the people of a nation who should be sovereign and not the government. However, we felt it was necessary to include it to allay the fears that some people have, that citizens can not be trusted to make wise decisions and may abuse their power or abuse the rights of minorities.

In saying that we find it very hard to believe that New Zealanders would vote for a referendum that would be so extreme that 75% of MP's would agree to veto it. To get 75% of MP's to agree would be a very rare feat. Neither have we set minimum turnout requirements because we feel the MP veto is enough protection. Switzerland sees no need for one either. One could argue that the people who don't participate really don't mind which way the referendum goes. So therefore for some who might have been a yes vote, there was someone who might have been a no vote, thereby cancelling each other out.