Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
The current government is 16 months old. In just another 18 months or so, New Zealand will once again be at the polling booth, deciding who'll be in charge for the next three years.
New Zealand's Parliament is one of only a few around the world with a three-year term. The argument for a short term includes our Parliament being unicameral (having no upper house), the limited power of our courts, and our lack of a fully spelled-out constitution. Some argue that these mean there are fewer checks on the executive.
Three years is regarded as a safeguard against destructive policy, with the public able to vote out unpopular governments, sooner rather than later. Governments though, find three years a very short time frame to get anything done and see its effect.
A bill was read for the first time this week that could change all that. The Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Bill, is in the name of National's Paul Goldsmith, but is a product of coalition negotiations with Act, who were its architects.
The Bill isn't as straightforward as the name suggests. It has both a second hurdle, thanks to New Zealand First, and a condition, courtesy of ACT.
The hurdle is passing a referendum. The condition is a four-year term would only happen if an incoming government accepted a caveat relating to the membership of select committees.
Currently, select committee membership roughly reflects the proportionality of seats in the House. As a result, most committees have more government MPs than opposition MPs. A few are split evenly.
To gain a four-year term membership of subject select committees would need to be proportionate to the non-executive House (the number of MPs each party has if you don't count anyone in cabinet). The Opposition would control all the select committees.
Third time lucky?
The four-year question has been mulled over by politicians, academics, and pundits for a while. There were referendums on a four-year term in 1967 and 1990 - both unsuccessful.
The referendum question would be: "Do you support the Term of Parliament (Enabling 4-year Term) Legislation Amendment Act 2025 coming into force?"
That is quite the mouthful. Labour's Duncan Webb, during the Bill's first reading, suggested that a question like that perhaps wouldn't resonate with voters.
Labour MP Duncan Webb. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
"A clean question is a good question. And if the question is 'Four years or three years? Yes or no?', that's a question that's very easy to communicate and to discuss."
Webb felt that including the "arcane" complexities of select committees was "not something that's going to be very exciting."
As one of the Bill's designers, it's no surprise that Act Leader David Seymour is a big proponent of the four-year term. He acknowledged that the proposal might not resonate with voters but for different reasons.
"I want to start by conceding that I suspect we're on a hiding to nothing when this bill goes to referendum," Seymour said during the first reading.
"The simple reason is that this is a time when, around the world, people's trust in politicians is in decline, and, yet, what people will see is politicians asking to be trusted for an extra year."
Seymour wasn't put off though.
"I would rather live in a New Zealand with a longer parliamentary term. The simplest reason for that is that I believe we need more stability."
Others have echoed Seymour's point about New Zealand moving to the much more common four-year term. But Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi said New Zealand was already taking after other countries, namely America, and not in a good way.
"You add four years, that's 12 years of terrorising our people... a four-year term will allow a government to run rampant over our people."
Te Pāti Māori were alone in wanting to kill the bill at the first reading. As per their coalition agreements, National and New Zealand First's support is not guaranteed at the second reading. Likewise, Labour and the Greens will likely wait and see how the Bill develops.
The Justice Committee is now taking submissions on the Bill and will report back to the House by September this year.
To listen to the audio version of this story, and other happenings at Parliament this week, click the link near the top of the page.
RNZ's The House, with insights into parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.
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