Stewart Barbara: Civil Union Bill — In Committee Procedure 
Stewart Barbara: Civil Union Bill — In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:622;Page:17604] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 I rise to speak to clause 1 and to support Brian Donnelly’s amendment to have a referendum on civil unions in New Zealand. At the moment our form of democracy consists of placing ticks in boxes only once every 3 years. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Two ticks. 
BARBARA STEWART 
: We get to place two ticks only once every 3 years. We have the right of free speech but most of the time nobody is listening. Most of the time most people are left either muttering to themselves or complaining to talkback radio. Often we even hear politicians on talkback radio. On this issue of civil unions the voice of ordinary New Zealanders is being lost. Like all MPs I have received hundreds of emails and letters showing that the people of New Zealand definitely have some thoughts on this issue. A binding referendum would ensure that the voice of New Zealanders is heard on this issue. 
Right throughout this entire debate we have heard many different statistics on whether civil unions should proceed. Who knows which is the correct set of statistics? Are both sets of statistics right? Who really knows? Why not let the people of New Zealand choose? After all members are here in Parliament basically to serve the people. We need to and we can trust the people and rely on their goodwill and common sense. I know that the statistics on previous referendums that my colleague Ron Mark read out earlier show that the people do understand what referendums are all about. 
Ron Mark 
: Labour thinks they are thick! 
BARBARA STEWART 
: New Zealanders are definitely not thick; they do know what this issue is about. We are saying that democracy is far too important to be left solely to politicians. We say that it is far better to rely on the common sense of ordinary people to make decisions on some of the issues that are facing New Zealand. Why? Because politicians cannot be relied on to do the right thing and to act in accordance with the wishes of the majority. When people elect a Government to safeguard their society culture liberty and future the elected representatives have an obligation to listen to them. Democracy is totally lost when that elected Government and its officials fail to hear the voice of the people. That is what the Government is doing in this particular instance. The major benefit of binding citizens initiated referenda would be to end a political system whereby the inner circle of various Governments—as my colleague pointed out earlier there have been many Governments that have initiated referenda—comes up with an agenda and the Government’s MPs are forced basically to fall into line. 
We know that citizens initiated referenda are not new. They are very common in Switzerland where the people have voted on 300 issues over the past 100 years and Brian Donnelly talked about that earlier. To give an example of citizens initiated referenda there Switzerland recently had a referendum on spending money to upgrade the roading system and it failed because the voters over there wanted their hospitals upgraded first. When the hospitals were completed they then voted to upgrade the roads. So referenda can be used by a Government to seek endorsement of or a veto on issues or other policy matters. 
I would say that the people of New Zealand would definitely know what they were voting for when it came to this particular referendum. It is more than just a moral issue. We believe that New Zealanders can make a decision so let them have a voice on this particular issue. The bottom line is that opportunities to let them have a voice are often missed because all of us politicians are talking when really we should be listening. We have heard from Ron Mark that the people of New Zealand can participate successfully in referenda. They have done so in the past so why not ask them to participate in a referendum on this particular issue? It can be done. The people of New Zealand are not thick. They need to have a say. This bill did not need to be pushed through in urgency.