New Zealanders currently elect their Members of Parliament every three years and value the importance of fair elections. However, it is becoming obvious that elections are not enough to ensure a peaceful and secure democracy. According to StatisticsNZ, the public’s trust in Parliament has fallen recently.

In January, former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer put forward 12 reforms of Parliament that would help restore and strengthen our democracy. One of the proposed reforms is to extend the maximum term of the New Zealand Parliament from three to four years. This is topical as the Government has agreed to introduce legislation to enable a four-year parliamentary term, which would be subject to a binding referendum, and could potentially take place alongside the next General Election in 2026.

The survey

A nationally-representative sample of n=1,004 New Zealanders, 18 years of age and over were interviewed online between 20-24 February 2025.

Drawing on Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s proposed reforms, we asked the question:

Q. “The role of our New Zealand Parliament (the 123 MPs, plus the Governor General) is to make laws, approve how tax money is spent, and to check and challenge the decisions of Government (Ministers and their departments/agencies). How much do you agree or disagree that...? The five reforms polled on:

• The maximum term of the New Zealand Parliament (between elections) should be extended from three years to four years

• Voting in New Zealand General Elections should be made compulsory

• The voting age should be lowered to 16 years (from 18 years)

• There should be more education about how our Parliament works (including the electoral system, history, and role of government)

• There should be a limit to the amount that can be donated to political parties by individuals

In addition, we asked about personal understanding:

• I have a good understanding of how Parliament works

High-level findings – there is a mood for change

Overall, 93% of respondents reported they agreed with at least one of the five proposed parliamentary reforms that we polled on, suggesting there is a strong mood to change aspects of our current system. The five reforms included extending the parliamentary term to four years, making voting compulsory, lowering the voting age to 16, limiting political party donations, and increasing education about how Parliament works. (Refer to Figure 1.)

However, of the five proposed parliamentary reforms, extending the parliamentary term was one of the least popular, with 44% in agreement. (Refer to Figure 2.)

These results should be considered in relation to the result that just over one-half (56%) reported they had a ‘good understanding of how Parliament works’.

Comment “To get the idea of extending the parliamentary term to four years accepted, there’s considerable work to be done, given the current level of support is 44%. Furthermore, it needs to be said that support may in fact be declining, given that a similar poll we ran in 2013 was significantly higher at 58%.”

Rangahau Aotearoa | Research New Zealand Managing Partner, Emanuel Kalafatelis

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