Petition gets required number of signatures to proceed to referendum

MEDIA STATEMENT

A petition resubmitted by Ms Sheryl Savill under the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 seeking a referendum on the question —

Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?

has been signed by the number of registered electors required to proceed to a referendum.

After making allowance for duplicate signatures, it is estimated that approximately 310,000 electors have signed the petition. The signatures of at least 10 percent of registered electors at the time the petition was originally received by the Clerk of the House (285,027) are required.

This is the fourth petition under the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 to proceed to a referendum.

It is expected that the Speaker will present the petition to the House on 26 August. The Government must then, within one month of the petition’s presentation, decide on a date for holding the referendum or specify that it is to be a postal referendum. The date of the referendum must itself be within 12 months of the petition’s presentation to the House unless the House by a 75 percent majority vote agrees to postpone it for up to a further year.

ENDS

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