Constitution
UnitedFuture's Constitution policy may be downloaded at the bottom of the page.
Inquiry into New Zealand's Constitutional Arrangements
It is UnitedFuture policy to:
- Embark on a public education process on constitutional matters, leading towards consideration of New Zealand as a republic within the Commonwealth in the future.
- Develop a timetable for considering constitutional reform issues by public referendum, with a view to implementing changes from 2017.
- Establish a New Zealand Day separate from Waitangi Day to celebrate our nation’s history, multicultural society, and to discuss the potential for the future
- Introduce a Multicultural Act, similar to Canada, for the preservation and enhancement of multiculturalism in New Zealand.
The Electoral System
It is UnitedFuture policy to:
- Investigate an extension of the Parliamentary term to four years, with a fixed election day.
- Hold a referendum on the future of MMP, in 2010, to allow the New Zealand people to review the effectiveness of the system to date
- Initiate a referendum on the future of Maori seats in Parliament to be held in conjunction with the MMP referendum, with a view to abolishing the seats by 2014. This would give effect to the recommendation in the 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System.
Conscience Issues
It is UnitedFuture policy to:
- Send automatically to a public referendum any conscience issue passed by Parliament with less than 60% support.
- Make binding the result of the subsequent referendum only if the motion is supported by more than 50% of registered voters.
Local Government
It is UnitedFuture policy to:
- Task the Local Government Commission with a review of the size and shape of all local government areas in order to reduce local government activity to a pre-1995 level.
- Rationalise and align all boundaries of elected and appointed government entities by 2012.
Purposeful Democracy
- Purposeful Democracy (PDF, 56.3 KB)
Note: PDF downloads require the free Adobe Reader application to view.