Legislation that will enable a four-year term of Parliament subject to a referendum has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said.

“As stipulated in the National-Act coalition agreement, the Bill is modelled on the Act Party’s draft Constitution (Enabling a 4-Year Term) Amendment Bill,” Goldsmith said.

“This means a standard term of Parliament will remain at three years, but with the ability to extend the maximum term of Parliament to four years.”

Goldsmith said the main condition is that membership of certain select committees is calculated in a way that is proportionate to the non-executive parliamentary party membership of the House.

“Given the constitutional significance of the term of Parliament, this change would be subject to the outcome of a binding referendum.

“Both the National-Act and National-New Zealand First coalition agreements include supporting to select committee a bill that would enact a binding referendum on a four-year term of Parliament.”

Goldsmith said at this stage, no decisions have been made on whether this bill will proceed beyond this.

“It is possible a referendum could be held alongside the next general election in 2026. However, any final decisions on timing for a referendum will depend on what comes out of the select committee process.

“To enable this, a Referendums Framework Bill will also have its first reading this week. This will provide for the conduct of a referendum alongside a general election and will be modelled on the temporary legislation put in place for the 2020 referendum on the End-of-Life-Choice legislation and on cannabis regulation.

“Future decisions will also need to be made by the Government as to whether the bill proceeds as introduced, or whether it should be amended.

“We want to hear what New Zealanders think during the select committee process.”