FDS Insight Newsletter Jul-Sep 2020

50 parliamentarians has already passed the bill. The double referendum means New Zealanders will be asked to vote on four things on polling day, which is still scheduled for 19 September despite the Covid-19 pandemic: the party they want in power, their local member of parliament, euthanasia and cannabis. ‘Two months ago we were all worried that these referendums would crowd out the election proper,’ Geddis said. ‘Now the problem is that with Covid-19, is there going to be any sort of room for the merits of these proposals to be thrashed out?’ Could New Zealand delay its referendums due to the pandemic? Geddis says no, unless the election date was changed. Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, said in late April that she had no plans to do that. C. Graham-McLay, The Guardian (5/5/20) Fear Khalil Gibran