- Better Democracy
Better Democracy is a non-partisan lobby group in
New Zealand , with the objective of bringing about binding citizens' initiated referendums as a form ofdirect democracy . The group was founded bySteve Baron in 2003, and originally know as Voters' Voice.Petition
Initially Steve Baron applied to the Clerk of the House of Representatives in April 2003 for a petition under the
Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 for a referendum to make citizens initiated referendums binding on the government. 20,209 signatures were collected, well below the requirement of 10% of the voting population.The
New Zealand First Party has since officially endorsed binding referendums, although has not pushed the issue under its current agreement with Labour. The small Direct Democracy Party also advocate for binding referendums.Prominent supporters
The groups website lists a number of prominent supporters
*Christine Fletcher , formerMayor of Auckland and former MP
*Roger Kerr , Chairman of theNew Zealand Business Roundtable
*David Lange , formerPrime Minister of New Zealand
*Michael Laws ,Mayor of Wanganui , former MP and talkback host
*Garth McVicar , Chairman of theSensible Sentencing Trust
*Winston Peters , leader of theNew Zealand First Party
* Graham Stairmand, President of the Grey Power Federation
*Ian Wishart , editor of "Investigate" magazineee also
*
Referendums in New Zealand External links
* [http://www.betterdemocracy.co.nz/ Better Democracy]
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