An initiative operating under the banner ‘A Peoples Referendum’ is advocating for a sweeping overhaul of New Zealand’s system of governance, saying the country has been in a state of constitutional uncertainty since the passage of the Constitution Act 1986.
The initiative argues that when New Zealand severed its remaining legal ties to Britain, it failed to establish a new constitutional foundation grounded in the explicit consent of its people. This omission created a vacuum in legal authority, with Parliament continuing to operate despite no longer deriving its legitimacy from its original constitutional source. The issues were first brought to light by investigative journalist Ian Wishart in the early 2000s.
The campaign asserts that New Zealand’s governing structure historically relied on authority granted through the British Parliament, and that independence required a clear transfer of that authority to the public through a formal process such as a referendum. This step never occurred, and that the transition was carried out incrementally and without widespread public awareness. As a result successive governments have continued to function without a fully ratified constitutional mandate.
Key functions of the state — including the passing and enforcement of laws, taxation, borrowing, and international agreements — lack lawful grounding. It also raises questions about the legitimacy of institutions such as the legislature, judiciary, and executive under the current framework.
To address what it describes as a foundational issue, “A Peoples Referendum” is calling for a nationwide public vote to determine the country’s constitutional future. Its proposal centres on replacing the existing system with a model of direct democracy, in which New Zealand would be divided into self-administering boroughs. These local entities would have the power to make decisions through referenda, tailor policies to regional needs, and manage their own economic and administrative priorities.
The initiative argues that such a system would improve transparency, reduce bureaucracy, limit the influence of political elites and special interests, and create a closer connection between citizens and decision-making.
New Zealanders, both in the country and overseas can support the initiative by signing a vote for a referendum online.
It people do not support this idea they are mad. Either mad, or so thorough indoctrinated they may as well be.
Maybe if we charged certain politicians with treason in an honest court our problems may disappear.
If found guilty they will not be eligible for the death penalty, that was abolished in 1989, coincidence perhaps?
Where do find an honest court in New Zealand?
I do agree with you sentiment however.
The New Zealand Loyal Party plans to ratify and codify the NZ Constitution..
https://nzloyal.com/justice/
https://nzloyal.com/resources/
The political party system is the problem, not the solution.
The Constitution Act 1986 repealed the Constitution Act 1852, cutting off all the constitutional authority of the New Zealand Company Parliament/NSW Parliament. The Australian Act 1986 followed, which removed the Australian and NSW constitutional authority by repealing the Constitution Act 1852, reverting the authority back to the original constitution of the Colony of NSW. What does this have to do with Australia?
The NZ Company was originally chartered in 1841, given extended powers and ENJOINED with the Colony of NSW in 1846, given authority for the conveyance of land in 1849, incorporated the Bank of NSW in 1850, purchased from the original shareholders in 1851 and constituted under the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the Constitution Act 1852. These constitutional arrangements took in another Roman Catholic military order through the Jesuit owned Royal Bank of Scotland which was to continue the theme of the Magna Carta 1215 of the Knights leasing infants’ lands.
The Colony of NSW and the New Zealand Company are divisions of the same Company. The Australian Church Parliament and the New Zealand Church Parliament don’t have a constitution, but we the people do. Our constitution is the English Constitution, the strongest constitution in the world, with its origin going back to William the Conqueror 1066.
REF: Who is the Government – the Great Deception by Ewan Campbell.
William the Conqueror, and his descendants including King John of the Magna Carta, established a system centred around the King and his Lords – i.e. a system to protect their privileges, not the Common people. The Common people of Britain had “rights” by way of customs which survived the Roman era in Britain, but were brutally curtailed by the Normans and even more so after the restitution on the Monarchy following the English Civil War and the Industrial Revolution era.
The Magna Carta has stuff all for the Common people, it is a document specifically written for the interests of the Lords of England who were getting a bit uppity about the amount of money King John was extracting from them for the Crusades, and half a dozen named Knights who were running rampant in Britain causing mayhem for the Lords. They are named in the document and were expelled back to France.
I’d definitely recommend reading the Magna Carta, it’s not an overly long document. Plato’s Dialogues are also worth reading to understand the basis of the “elite” system of government which is currently manifest. Much of history post the Roman era adhered to the Aristotle school – which is similar but with a major difference that the important part of society to keep happy was the “centre”. Another document worth reading is H.G. Well’s Open Conspiracy – if you can stomach it. Like Plato, H.G. Wells is stomach churning.
I think not. There’s no other system that worked as the English one.. The claim of reducing bureaucracy is laughable. Governing is not the same as managing like a council does..Show me where the whats proposed is in action & working as it sounds like a republic & i ain’t wanting a bar of that nonsense..
Switzerland, do you think this idea was dreamed up in NZ out of the fresh air?
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Look at the UK right now, is it working? Economic and social decline, uncontrolled immigration, more arrests for free speech than any other nation on earth. You need to wake up, mate.
This is essentially what I have wanted for years. I’m disgusted by the criminality, corruption, greed and disloyalty of much of the political elite in this country. They have failed the people and need to be replaced with a political system that is more accountable and regional, that understands local concerns.
A constitution tells what you CAN do; laws tell what you CAN’T. Big difference!
To a degree. A constitution established the governing structure, fundamental values to be upheld and decision making methods.