7. Question No. 7—JusticeHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 7—Justice7. Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) to the Minister of Justice: Is it Government policy that the topic and wording of referenda held at elections should be determined by Government by Order in Council rather than Parliament?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Acting Minister of Justice): No the Government's policy is to use the appropriate mechanism to set a referendum question. There is no set procedure for setting referendum questions. In the instance of any referenda held with the 2020 general election the Government felt it was most appropriate to set the question through Order in Council as there is the distinct possibility of multiple referendums. The Referendums Framework Bill provides greater clarity for the public and the Electoral Commission in 2020 by ensuring that the same framework and rules will apply to all referenda that will be held at the 2020 general election.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Does he agree with Labour's statement in 2015 on the flag referendum that the wording and process must go through Parliament with a full select committee process including public submissions as it did; if so why has the Government changed its tune and now taken for itself the determination of what referendum will be held and what—SPEAKER: Order! Look I'm going to ask the member to have another crack at that and to get the question accurate.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Does he agree with Labour's statement in 2015 on the flag referendum that the wording and process must go through Parliament with a full select committee process including public submissions as it did; if so why is the Government not now doing the same?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I explained to the member what the process of what referenda associated with the 2020 general election will be. But what I would like to remind the member is that there will be parliamentary scrutiny of this referendum question through Parliament's Regulations Review Committee.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Will the Government use this referendum legislation where it alone decides on the issue and the wording to include a referendum on abortion at election 2020 noting that the Deputy Prime Minister has indicated that is his preference for dealing with the issue?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: There are no plans to include a referendum on abortion.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Can he confirm that under this legislation the Government would have the power to have a referendum on New Zealand becoming a republic abolishing the Māori seats euthanasia cannabis abortion—SPEAKER: Order! Order!Hon Dr Nick Smith: —or anything else it decides. It's an important issue Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: Oh well the member can have another crack. It's another question though.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Can he confirm that under this legislation the Government would have the power to have a referendum on New Zealand becoming a republic get rid of the Māori seats or anything else it likes without Parliament or the public having any say?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I think the member is getting ahead of himself. The situation that we have outlined is that there is the possibility of multiple referenda. We have of course publicly discussed that we are in an unusual situation that we're needing to negotiate and there is also the possibility of a referendum on David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. The member can put up a whole lot of hypothetical scenarios but of course any Government could legislate for any referendum; so I think the member's getting ahead of himself.Hon Dr Nick Smith: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was whether he can confirm that under this legislation we're debating the Government could have any of those referenda. The Minister did not answer that question.SPEAKER: And it was a hypothetical question and it was certainly addressed.