referendum

Categories under referendum

  • No categories

Local Councils Defy Central Government Agenda

Written By: - Date published: 4:16 pm, August 30th, 2024 - 38 comments

94% of councils that have voted vote to retain Maori wards. Many of them are National background Councillors and previously urged Central Government to not push ahead with the legislation. The forced local referendums are now expected to cost ratepayers and take away from Council workloads

Will Australia Hear The Voice?

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 pm, March 6th, 2023 - 10 comments

Australia’s Prime Minister Albanese is trying to get actual indigenous representation into the Australian Parliament with a referendum. Going to be tough.

Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation and Scottish Independence.

Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, February 16th, 2023 - 56 comments

While Sturgeon’s strong leadership and vision have helped build support for Scottish Independence, the Conservative and Unionist Party’s arrogance and self-serving incompetence in government have greatly aided her in this.

Assisted dying law in New Zealand and the UK

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, December 9th, 2020 - 65 comments

Assisted Dying

There is now growing recognition internationally that the right to a dignified death is a fundamental human right. Assisted dying is not about reducing health care costs or pressuring those who are frail, old or disabled to end their life prematurely. It is about allowing those with a terminal illness the choice to die rather than face a period of significant physical decline and suffering before the end of their life.

The challenge to the reeferendum result

Written By: - Date published: 7:53 am, December 8th, 2020 - 57 comments

A group of more than 350 people have applied to the High Court to try and void the reeferendum result.

Rerun reeferendum

Written By: - Date published: 3:46 pm, November 6th, 2020 - 33 comments

One of the other results from the final results on was the reeferendum. The loss was minuscule in the final results. If I was the yes campaign, I’d be considering pushing this to another referendum soon. It was so close, that the result was mainly due to being run with Covid-19 in the background of the campaign, a unreadable proposed bill, and a surprisingly well funded No campaign.

The Green Party’s decision on government

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, October 31st, 2020 - 139 comments

Which way are the Greens going to jump?

The reeferendum fails

Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, October 30th, 2020 - 207 comments

The referendum seeking to decriminalise cannabis appears to have failed narrowly although special votes are still to be counted.

Legalise it! The Socialist case for Cannabis reform

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, October 15th, 2020 - 18 comments

Maria Hoyle of Socialist Aotearoa argues that from a socialist perspective the legalisation of the possession of cannabis should occur.

The Votesafe campaign

Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, October 2nd, 2020 - 35 comments

A well funded organisation has emerged from nowhere and is potentially having a significant effect on one of the referendum topics this year.

Vote No to Cannabis Reform

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, August 10th, 2020 - 118 comments

Ten reasons to vote against cannabis law reform this election.

Bouganville and Brexit

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, December 12th, 2019 - 2 comments

The island of Bouganville has just had a vote towards independence from Papua New Guinea.  The result has interesting similarities with the Brexit vote.

Two Referendums Too Many

Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, November 16th, 2019 - 50 comments

The referendums on two contentious issues could cloud and crowd out the General Election.

The Green’s electoral law reform petition

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, March 4th, 2019 - 389 comments

The Green Party’s launching of a petition to seek changes to the electoral system has met with some Trumpian style rhetoric from the right.

First Past the Post nostalgia

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, October 12th, 2017 - 33 comments

A timely reminder that we replaced FPP for very good reasons.

Cat Among the Pigeons

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, March 14th, 2017 - 94 comments

Nicolas Sturgeon to seek the authority of the Scottish Parliament to agree the details of a Section 30 Order that will allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for an independence referendum.

Legalize It

Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, August 12th, 2016 - 95 comments

Is it time for a referendum on marijuana? There is strong support for the use of medicinal marijuana. Should we just admit that Kiwis like smoking dope and simply legalise it?

What the Swiss voted on (UBI proposal)

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, June 7th, 2016 - 13 comments

Some context for the debate.

The Butcher’s Apron or the Tea Towel

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, February 28th, 2016 - 159 comments

Next week the voting on part two of the Key Legacy Project © begins. We’re being given a choice between the outdated and the bland. The Butcher’s Apron or the Tea Towel. Do you care?

Flagpole Sitta

Written By: - Date published: 5:56 pm, December 11th, 2015 - 138 comments

John Key’s $26 million dollar flag flop bores it’s way to the halfway line tonight. The first referendum closes at 7 PM, first results at around 8.30. $26 million … that’s a lot of cancer drugs, child care centres and elder care we won’t be getting because the PM wants a signature legacy his dreary leadership doesn’t actually deserve.

Boots Theory: Flag referendum 1

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, November 24th, 2015 - 35 comments

What to do with these ballot papers that just arrived in the mail?

NRT: Meh

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, September 1st, 2015 - 92 comments

Today the government announced the four candidates for John Key’s vanity flag referendum: three ferns (one of them the logo of Immigration NZ and the Companies Office) and a koru. And really, all I can say is “meh”. So how about defining a good way of doing a informal or invalid vote on this stupid first referendum on selecting John Key’s underwear..

Do petitions work?

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, June 24th, 2015 - 31 comments

The increased use of petitions is a very clever innovation by the Labour Party because this Government has proven to be a weather vane lot, guided by polls.

Where would you spend $26 million?

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, November 3rd, 2014 - 52 comments

If you were the NZ government, with $26 million to spend, what would you spend it on?

Conservative idiots

Written By: - Date published: 2:04 pm, July 20th, 2014 - 65 comments

The Conservatives have made a complete cockup of their “bottom line” for making a deal with National about going into government. They want to make referendums legally binding on the government. It is something that no rational government in NZ would agree with because it is impossible from several different criteria. Andrew Geddis points out that it is pretty well impossible without changing the legal basis of our government. I just think that the questions for our referendums have been complete crap.

September 18th

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 pm, April 8th, 2014 - 46 comments

The 18th of September 2014 is a big day.

On that day, people living in Scotland will decide if they want to become citizens in a nation that will have reclaimed its sovereignty.

National has a big asset-sale problem

Written By: - Date published: 4:36 pm, December 16th, 2013 - 128 comments

Look at how deeply unpopular National’s asset sales program is even in their own MP’s electorates. To illustrate the point that Matthew Hooten can’t read numbers, I’ve displayed it in turnout order. South Island and National held electorates generally turn out far more than Labour or Auckland urban electorates in postal votes. But most National held electorates especially provincial ones voted almost two to one against Nationals asset sales program.

Polity: Turnout in the referendum

Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, December 16th, 2013 - 72 comments

Rob Salmond at Polity has had a look at the effectiveness of National’s deliberate strategy to discriminate against Maori and Pasifika in the asset sales referendum. National chose a postal ballot for the referendum knowing it would disproportionately disenfranchise Maori and Pasifika communities. I hope they’re proud of themselves. Here is a chart of turnout […]

Muppets.

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, December 16th, 2013 - 100 comments

It never fails to amaze me that supposedly experienced and professional (ie, paid) political figures routinely reaffirm a fairly deep sense of stupidity.

At least 225,000 Nats said “No” to asset sales

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, December 14th, 2013 - 90 comments

Rob Salmond runs the Polity blog and has given us permission to syndicate his posts. Long time readers will remember him from the brilliant posts on 08wire.org during the 2008 campaign, so expect us to often find something of interest.

Like this post looking at who voted No on the referendum. That number of previously National voters must be scaring the National party at present.

Turning around the books

Written By: - Date published: 5:44 pm, December 13th, 2013 - 23 comments

So according to John Key, turnout in the referendum is so low it doesn’t mean anything to him (despite his government working hard to get turnout down).  But he reckons it does mean David Cunliffe needs to promise to buy back the assets..?