Referendums in New Zealand - Government Referendums

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 referendums 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 Parliament of New Zealand or by the public. The only exceptions to this are the term of Parliament and several other aspects of the electoral process, 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.