Congratulations to Larry Baldock and Sheryl Savill for collecting enough signatures to trigger a referendum on the anti smacking Bill. However what people must realise is that we need to force the government to make referendums binding and we need politicians who are prepared to support the concept that it is the people of New Zealand who must have the final say.

Binding referendums have been the basis of democracy in Switzerland for over 130 years and it is time we had real democracy here in New Zealand. All we have at present is one day of democracy, three years of an elected dictatorship and a claytons referendum every now and then.

There have been any number of contentious and polarizing issues over the last ten years that could have and should have been decided by the people through a binding referendum.

Better Democracy NZ is not suggesting we run the country by referendum, referendums are simply an adjunct to representative democracy. It is the people who must have the final say and not just once every three years at a general election as that is quite often too late.

ENDS

www.betterdemocracy.co.nz

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