The government officially announced: abandoning the referendum plan of "general elections every four years"

New Zealand Chinese Herald Comprehensive Report 1News learned that the New Zealand government has officially abandoned its plan to hold a referendum on “extending the government’s term to four years.”

Previously, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has repeatedly criticized the current three-year term system, believing that it forces the government into a short-sighted decision-making mode.

The bill, originally introduced to cabinet by ACT leader David Seymour, proposes giving the government the power to choose between a three-year term or a four-year term.

In last year’s budget, the government allocated $25 million to hold a referendum, but this was lower than the $33 million originally budgeted by officials.

While the legislation passed a vote and advanced to select committee stage, the Justice Select Committee was heavily critical of the proposal.

“Variable tenure systems could create risks for the public, local government, businesses and communities, leading to uncertainty about the frequency of government policy changes,” the committee noted.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith confirmed that the bill will not proceed with a second reading during this term. However, he did not rule out the possibility of raising the matter again in future elections if the coalition government is re-elected.

Goldsmith said: “We are not going to move forward with an actual referendum at this election because that would require passing a bill and doing a lot of preparations for a referendum. That may be something that a future government will do, but at the moment it’s not a priority for us in the judicial area.”

According to the joint cabinet agreement signed in 2023, the National Party-ACT Party and the National Party-First Party reached a consensus to support the bill to advance to the special committee stage.

Andrew Geddis, a professor and legal expert at the University of Otago, said at the time: “The argument for extending the term is that it will give the government more time to formulate policies and implement them, and then test whether the policies are effective, and finally accept the judgment of voters.”

“The objection is that in New Zealand, elections are pretty much the only way we can ensure government accountability. So extending the parliamentary term by one year gives the government an extra year before it can be judged by voters.”

Andrew Geddis pointed out that in February 2025, the government stated that it would only submit the bill to a special committee and did not make any guarantees about subsequent progress. “This may indicate that there are differences within the coalition on the specific content of this bill.”