JC: Should MMP and Maori Seats Go?

A controversial headline, perhaps, but designed to spark debate. I will attempt to justify it with some facts, both positive and negative; however, the negatives outweigh the positives by some margin. The 2023 election is of course a true result of an election run under the MMP system, but I don’t believe it adequately reflects the current mood of the country. Had the election been run under a First Past The Post system (FPP) then the mood for change would have been better illustrated.

Steve Baron: A $25.7m blunder waiting to happen

I suspect the government is about to make a huge blunder. They are investing $25.7 million in a flag referendum but they have made a crucial mistake in selecting the voting system to decide the referendum. As my mother always told me, if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing properly—especially when spending this amount of money on a significant issue.

A briefing paper issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Bill English) has recommended the use of the First-Past-The-Post (FPP) voting system in the first referendum. This referendum will choose from a potential list of three or four flags that will go up against the existing flag in a second referendum. Using FPP in the first referendum is a disaster waiting to happen and could cause ongoing derision for generations to come. 

Unless there is an absolute clear preference (50%+) for just one flag (highly unlikely) in the first referendum, using the FPP voting system may actually mean that the LEAST

favoured flag could win and that really would be a disaster.