It can be argued that the announced referendum on MMP, to be held in conjunction with the 2011 general election, is one of the most important constitutional reforms undertaken by any New Zealand Government. Yet, while there is “lofty” talk about the need for public consultation – “We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to have their say on this significant constitutional issue” – it is clear that the government is not serious about public input.[1]

The consultation process that has been chosen involves nothing more than the standard public submissions to a Select Committee. As we have already seen from this government’s farcical submission process regarding the emissions trading legislation, not only is there little chance that such submissions will have any effect, submitters are likely to be denied the opportunity to make their submission in person.   

This scant intended public consultation process is in spite of a well established convention that whenever constitutional reform is undertaken, widespread public involvement is encouraged. The Cabinet Manual states it clearly - with regard to changes in our constitutional arrangements, “It is important for a process of change to involve a sound process, public education, proper consultation with affected parties, public buy-in and plenty of time.”[2]

What this means is that unless we demand to be properly consulted over the structure of our electoral system - which is fundamental to the constitutional arrangements of the country - National again intends to snub the rights of people to have a meaningful say.

So what is the Government proposing for this crucial review of MMP?

The process goes something like this.

A referendum bill will be introduced into Parliament in March, which will include two questions – firstly, whether the current MMP voting system should be retained, and secondly, for those who would like to see change, which voting system they would prefer. A list of options will be provided, which is likely to include first-past-the-post, preferential voting, supplementary member, or single transferable vote. The Bill is scheduled to be passed in late 2010 with the indicative referendum on MMP held at the 2011 general election.

If a majority of voters want to see MMP replaced, then a binding referendum will be held at the 2014 general election between MMP and the preferred alternative. If MMP is defeated, the new voting system will be introduced and used for the first time at the 2017 election! This means that our Prime Minister - who has strongly indicated that he thinks MMP is working well - has approved a process that will retain MMP until at least 2017. This is in spite of recommendations in the Cabinet papers for options which would see a new voting system in place in time for the 2014 election.[2]

To complicate matters further, the Cabinet papers have also suggest that the government might like to consider announcing modifications to MMP in order to make it more palatable to voters: “In the lead-up to the first referendum, the public discussion concerning whether to retain or change the current voting system is likely to bring to light a number of issues that people have with MMP (eg, the party vote threshold). It may be useful during this public discussion for the Government to indicate whether it would be willing to undertake a review of MMP to clarify and address these issues, if the public votes to retain MMP. This would assist voters to make an informed choice. It would also reduce the likelihood of change from MMP to an alternative voting system if most voters generally agree with MMP, subject to some amendments”. While the government has remained silent on whether it intends to pursue this course of action, doing so could expose it to accusations of gerrymandering the referendum process.

All in all, the proposed referendum process can be seen to be deeply flawed.

Firstly the timeframe for the implementation of a new system – if that’s what the public wants - is far too long. If the public vote for change in 2011, a binding referendum should be held in 2012 so that if MMP is defeated, the new electoral system can begin at the 2014 election.