IoD submission on the parliamentary term

The Independent Electoral Review is considering the future of Aotearoa New Zealand’s electoral system including the parliamentary term. The IoD has made a submission supporting a move to a four year parliamentary term with the expectation that it will support stronger governance and democracy.

The issue of our parliamentary term has been topical for quite a while, and given the recent debate on important issues that have made people question how democracy works and how to ensure a strong system, it’s good timing the Independent Electoral Review Panel to be leading a review of New Zealand’s electoral law and looking at the rules around the length of the parliamentary term.

The IoD has been advocating for a longer parliamentary term for quite some time. Back in 2016 we asked members as part of the Director Sentiment Survey about a four year term. 84% of members agreed that extending the parliamentary term from three to four years would improve the governance of NZ.

Our submission to the Panel therefore supports a move to a four year term.

The issue of how long a parliamentary term should be is complex and impacts on a government’s ability to be held accountable for its decisions.

Any elected government needs sufficient time to tackle the important issues they have been elected to address, and for the term to be sufficiently long to allow for the development of good policy and law, to have it be challenged and refined as part of a robust parliamentary process, as well as being put into practice.