Lobby Launches Online Petition to Press Case for Better Referendum !

The Put MMP to the Vote lobby has launched an online petition to persuade the government to produce a better referendum process for the forthcoming vote on MMP.

The group, led by Peter Shirtcliffe and Graeme Hunt, said the referendum process was drawnout and convoluted and gave a “huge advantage” to MMP. “The fact is that if people vote for change in 2011, it will be 2014 before they can vote in an alternative to MMP and 2017 before a new electoral system comes in,” Shirtcliffe said.

“We think the process is too long and complicated. It is extremely hard to hold public interest for that long and yet the voting system is a key part of our constitution and a pillar of our working democracy.”

Shirtcliffe said the online petition was designed to give the public a say over the referendum process while the government was debating the referendum legislation in Parliament.

“The government’s lack of consultation over the referendum process is frankly astounding.”

Hunt said it was no secret that MMP continued to frustrate New Zealand’s attempts to move forward economically and politically.

“It is not as if people like the system: list MPs are despised and the turnout under MMP elections is consistently lower than under first-past-the-post polls. “The public desire for change is strong yet their chance to vote for a better system is under threat by the government’s bureaucratic and long-winded referendum process. Unless the process is changed, electors will have to wait until 2017 for a new voting system, if at all.

“The government says that if MMP remains it will ‘tweak’ the system. Don’t believe the politicians. Parliament failed to reform MMP in 2002 and it won’t in future. The system is beyond reform.

“The way to bring about change is to have a robust and contestable referendum process. That will not happen unless the terms of the government’s referendum process are changed.

Put MMP to the Vote seeks to speed up the referendum process and would like the government to include an option for a smaller Parliament – something New Zealanders voted for in a citizens-initiated referendum in 1999. The online petition link is below:

CITIZENS’!PETITION!FOR!AN!EFFECTIVE!REFERENDUM!ON!MMP

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