New Zealand

A very limited form of CIR was introduced into New Zealand in 1993. (See The Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993)
The term, ‘indicative referendum' is used throughout the legislation as any measure which is passed at a referendum is indicative only; meaning, the parliament is not in any way bound by the referendum. The preamble to the legislation reads:

'An Act to provide for the holding, on specific questions, of citizens initiated referenda, the results of which referenda will indicate the views held by the people of New Zealand on specific questions but will not be binding on the New Zealand Government'.

In effect, CIR in New Zealand is something more than an opinion poll of the electorate - but not much more. To illustrate the point, on 1999-11-27 the following referendum question was put to the electorate:

Should the size of the House of Representatives be reduced from 120 members to 99 members?'

The proposal was supported by a massive 81.5% of the population but, as of 2008, the number of members had increased to 121.

For further information please see:

There is widespread support for CIR in New Zealand as can be seen at http://www.betterdemocracy.co.nz/home.php