Democracy & Governance

New Zealand can be a place where democratic engagement is supported, encouraged and accessible to all.

But to strengthen our liberal democracy, we need political action to get the settings right.

We’re committed to making sure our democratic processes are fair, transparent and accessible to all citizens and residents. The influence of money in our political system, the centralisation of power and lack of accountability is concerning.

We want to help elevate society’s expectations that politicians confront complex issues and promote discourse on long-term matters.

We aim to fix that.

Electoral Reform 

• Lower the MMP Threshold to 3.5% (as recommended by the Independent Electoral Review).
• Introduce caps on political donations.
• Strengthen our MMP system through civics education in schools, with a view to lowering the voting age to 16. 
• Shift to a 4 year Parliamentary Term. 
• Introduce more systematically innovative democratic techniques for consultation – both digital and participatory.

Parliamentary Reform

• Introduce an Anti-Corruption Commission. 
• Tighten regulation and transparency of lobbyists.
• Upgrade the Select Committee system to improve performance. 
• Appoint a Future Generations Commissioner. 
• Reduce the number of sitting weeks for Parliament. 

Local Government

• Remove GST on rates and use ‘land value’ only for the rating base. 
• Develop a 30 year National Infrastructure Plan in collaboration with Central Government.
• Support amalgamation of local and regional councils where supported locally. 
• Shift to a 4 year term in line with Parliamentary elections.
• Shift to Ranked Choice Voting (STV).