We are happy to hear the announcement today of a constitutional review. The review’s terms of reference are:
- The size of Parliament.
- The length of terms of Parliament and whether or not the term should be fixed.
- The size and number of electorates, including the method for calculating size.
- Electoral integrity legislation.
- Maori representation, including the Maori Electoral Option, Maori electoral participation and Maori seats in Parliament and local government.
- The role of the Treaty of Waitangi within New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements.
- Whether New Zealand should have a written constitution.
- Bill of Rights issues.
- Any other matters raised during public consultation, which may include whether New Zealand should become a republic and the relationship between central and local government.
These are all very important matters for New Zealand to address and the Sustainable Future Institute has completed in-depth research of issues surrounding Māori representation and broader constitutional concerns. This package of research includes the following publications:
| Report 8 | Effective Māori Representation in Parliament: Working towards a National Sustainable Development Strategy |
| Report 7 | Exploring the Shared Goals of Māori: Working towards a National Sustainable Development Strategy |
| Background Report 7a | Environmental Goals of Iwi and Hapū: Six case studies |
| Working Paper 2009/02 | A Methodological Approach to Māori-focused Research |
| Working Paper 2009/03 | Identifying the Shared Goals of Six Māori Organisations |
| Working Paper 2009/04 | Statistics: A selection of available data associated with shared Māori goals |
| Working Paper 2010/02 | Institutions and Mechanisms Designed to Progress the Goals of Māori |
| Working Paper 2010/03 | The Evolution of New Zealand as a Nation: Significant events and legislation 1770–2010 |
| Working Paper 2010/04 | The 2008 Election: Reviewing seat allocations without the Māori electorate seats |
| Working Paper 2010/05 | The Waitangi Tribunal and the Office of Treaty Settlements |
To view these publications visit our publications page.
Peter Sharples has said that “the review would be guided by public consultation and there would be information and education campaigns to advise of progress” (beehive.govt.nz). We welcome this approach and look forward to putting forward our research and contributing to the public debate we hope this review will produce.