Referendum Proposals
Two petitions for citizens initiated referendums related to the bill were launched in February 2007. The wording for the two referendums was:
- "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"
- "Should the Government give urgent priority to understanding and addressing the wider causes of family breakdown, family violence and child abuse in New Zealand?"
In February 2008, the bill having been passed in the meantime, supporters of the referenda claimed that they had collected enough signatures. If 300,000 valid signatures were collected by 1 March 2008 for each of the referendum petitions, they hoped the referenda would be held on the same date as the 2008 general election.
The first petition was supported by Family First New Zealand, the ACT Party and The Kiwi Party. Both Family First and the Kiwi Party promote the Judaeo-Christian argument supporting smacking. There is also contention within Christianity around this argument.
The first petition was presented to the Clerk of the House of Representatives on 29 February 2008, who vetted the signatures along with the Chief Electoral Officer. Of 280,275 signatures required to force a referendum, only 269,500 were confirmed—a shortfall of 10,775. A number of signatures were excluded because they were illegible, had incorrect date of birth information, or appeared more than once.
The petitioners were required to collect and confirm the requisite number of signatures within two months, to be presented to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. This occurred on 23 June 2008, when Kiwi Party leader Larry Baldock handed over a petition which claimed to have over 390,000 signatures. The Office of the Clerk of the House had two months to verify the signatures.
On 22 August 2008 the Clerk certified that there were enough signatures, and the Government had one month to name a date for a referendum. Under the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993, Cabinet could delay a vote on the issue for up to a year. The referendum was held from 31 July to 21 August 2009.
The referendum was non-binding (as specified by New Zealand's Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993), and thus does not compel the government to follow its result. Prime Minister John Key and Leader of the Opposition Phil Goff have said the results of the referendum will not commit them to repealing the law.
On 25 August 2009, the Chief Electoral Officer released the results of the referendum. According to the results, 11.98% of valid votes were Yes votes, and 87.4% of votes were No votes. Voter turnout was 56.09%, and 0.1% of votes were invalid.
The second petition, organised by Larry Baldock, was handed to Parliament on 14 May 2008.
Read more about this topic: Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007
Famous quotes containing the word proposals:
“One theme links together these new proposals for family policy—the idea that the family is exceedingly durable. Changes in structure and function and individual roles are not to be confused with the collapse of the family. Families remain more important in the lives of children than other institutions. Family ties are stronger and more vital than many of us imagine in the perennial atmosphere of crisis surrounding the subject.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)