New Zealand First Initiative Welcome

New Zealand First Initiative Welcome

The New Zealand Business Roundtable welcomed New Zealand First's initiative on direct democracy today.

Executive director Roger Kerr said that the Business Roundtable's 1992 study An Analysis of Proposals for Constitutional Change in New Zealand viewed favourably the use of non-binding referenda. (By contrast, it found against MMP as an electoral system.) The Business Roundtable supported the use of binding referenda on constitutional measures, such as the recent decision to establish a New Zealand-based Supreme Court.

The Business Roundtable has also favoured a reduction in the size of parliament and a smaller cabinet.

"Some details of the New Zealand First's ideas are debatable but the general thrust of the proposals deserves consideration", Mr Kerr said.

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