To improve the public trust, Parliament needs to invest its own capacities and capabilities to independently and openly perform its inquiry, legislative, scrutiny and representation functions, including by providing meaningful opportunities for the public to contribute.
New Zealanders may soon be asked to consider whether we trust our elected Members of Parliament enough to allow them an extra year between elections. Parliament’s Justice Committee is currently considering the two bills that together would make a referendum on this a reality. Trust Democracy’s submissions call for both bills to be withdrawn and attention focused instead on making NZ’s democratic system more robust.
