The existing flag’s largest victory was in Te Tai Tokerau, were it received 78.9% of the votes. Labour leader Andrew Little criticised what he called the Prime Minister's "personal crusade". During their public submission intake phase the RSA launched the "Fight for the Flag" campaign, also backed by New Zealand First, to reverse the question order and first ask if New Zealanders want a flag change. [13] The proposal was met with a mixed response. New Zealand is appealing to the public to design and vote on a new flag, and the results are as weird and wonderful as you’d expect. [59][56][49] Key's campaigning was noted as perplexing and ineffectual. Preliminary results of the binding referendum are expected to be announced about 8.30pm tonight after voting closes at 7pm. Voters 77. [51][87][88][89][48][90][91][92][83][85] A spokesman responded that "it was considered that panel members did not need specialist skills in art, design, legal or intellectual property" and that consultation with experts would be sufficient. [31] During its second hearing in Parliament, MP Jacinda Ardern proposed an amendment so that the second referendum would only take place if turnout for the first referendum was at least 50%, as a way of ensuring majority rule and reducing costs if the public was apathetic. Overall voter turnout was 67.78%. Most Red Peak supporters actually ranked the current NZ Flag higher than the Black, White and Blue Silver Fern. Preliminary results will be announced some time after 7:00 pm tomorrow, 24 March. It asks voters to choose between the existing New Zealand Flag and the preferred alternative design selected in the first referendum. New Zealanders have voted to keep the country's existing flag, in an historic referendum. Trevor Mallard and Phil Goff cited the results of recent opinion polls that showed public opposition or apathy to a flag change. Rustled jimmies, anyone? There is no consensus among proponents of changing the flag as to which design should replace the flag. These in-person consultation events were noted to have markedly low attendance. For example, in an expert review of hundreds of photographs submitted to the news site NU.nl, 86% of submissions were deemed unusable and only one photograph was considered professional quality. votes returned blank or voting for both options). [16] Following National's re-election the details of the referendum were announced. [56] Commentators identified many issues and reasons for failure, the most significant of which are listed below. [49][93] Nándor Tánczos opined that the Flag Consideration Panel denied the public a chance to choose their favourite designs by deciding on their behalf, since the public had no input or voting on the flag selection. [58][29] David Seymour (ACT's representative in the Cross-Party Group) said that the planned order made sense, as the public would need to see the alternative designs before deciding on a change. Prime Minister John Key discusses the impending result of the flag referendum. This included 149,747 informal votes and 3372 invalid votes. [18], If a new flag design had been chosen, assuming no intellectual property issues, the Flags, Emblems and Names Protection Act 1981 would have been updated to reflect the new design six months to the day after the second referendum results were declared (or earlier by Order in Council). More voters turned out for the second go, casting 2,124,507 votes by March 23. Kyle Lockwood, discusses his flag design. Early results project the winner of New Zealand's first flag referendum is Kyle Lockwood's black and blue fern design. What was that about? The second referendum took place between 3 and 24 March 2016 and asked voters to choose between the selected alternative (the black, white and blue silver fern flag) and the existing New Zealand flag. This result confused Malcolm Mulholland of the Flag Consideration Panel, who believed they had adequately engaged with Māori during their nationwide tour. Find out more Close. Final Result by Electorate for the Second Referendum on the New Zealand Flag, on the question "What is your choice for the New Zealand Flag" 30 March 2016: PDF Format Excel Format: Electorate No. [36], Wā kāinga / Home by Studio Alexander [note 1], Land Of The Long White Cloud (Ocean Blue) by Mike Archer, Land Of The Long White Cloud (Traditional Blue) by Mike Archer, Silver Fern (Black & Silver) by Sven Baker, The Seven Stars of Matariki by Matthew Clare, Curly Koru by Daniel Crayford and Leon Cayford, Koru Fin by Daniel Crayford and Leon Cayford, Modern Hundertwasser koru by Tomas Cottle [note 2], New Southern Cross by Wayne William Doyle, Silver Fern (Black and White) by Alofi Kanter, Silver Fern (Black with Red Stars) by Kyle Lockwood, Silver Fern (Red, White and Blue) by Kyle Lockwood, Silver Fern (Black & White) by Kyle Lockwood, Silver Fern (Black, White and Red) by Kyle Lockwood, Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) by Kyle Lockwood, Finding Unity in Community by Dave Sauvage, Fern (Green, Black & White) by Clay Sinclair and Sandra Ellmers, On 1 September 2015, the Flag Consideration Panel announced the four designs to be included in the first referendum. A person convicted of personation is liable to up to two years' imprisonment and a fine up to $40,000, and carries a mandatory disqualification from enrolling or voting for three years. [80] Professor John Burrows, chair of the Flag Consideration Panel, agreed that familiarity with proposals was a prerequisite for a properly informed decision about them. [57] Members of parliament accused the referendums as Key's "vanity project", populist bread and circuses,[58][31] a distraction from poverty and housing issues, or a vehicle to establish a personal legacy. [86] In the case of the flag referendums, the flag solicitation process was treated as a joke by the public and garnered far too many amateurish and facetious proposals. After a robust referendum process John Key hopes that we can all unify behind one flag. [32], As part of the public engagement process, flag designs and symbolism/value suggestions were solicited until 16 July, which resulted in a total of 10,292 design suggestions. [1], Shortly after the referendum announcement, party leaders reviewed draft legislation and selected candidates for a Flag Consideration Panel. Detailed results can be viewed on the Electoral Commission’s website. For the flag referendum, the result was released just before 8pm. [9] From the submitted designs they found the most common colours were white, blue, red, black, and green. New Zealand has a history of debate about whether the national flag should be changed. [82], After the Flag Consideration Panel revealed the four shortlisted designs, some noticed that three out of the four designs coincided with prime minister John Key's personal design preferences. According to this analysis, the largest term in the official word cloud, "equality", appeared in 4.89% of comments, whereas "keeping the current flag" was the most common theme and represented 31.96% of comments. Ardern's proposal was voted down and the bill was passed as-is on 29 July 2015. More than two million people have now voted in the year-long multimillion dollar flag referendum, with more than 1.2 million votes in favour of retaining the current design, which has been the official New Zealand emblem since 1902. ", "Morgan Foundation Flag Competition Judging Results", "New Zealand's new flag: final four designs announced", "NZ flag referendum: The final four designs revealed", "Flag referendum: Red Peak design to be added as fifth option – John Key – National – NZ Herald News", "New Zealand Masterbrand Guidelines and Specifications", "Press & television coverage featuring our flag from NZ and around the world", "How about a bungee-jumping sheep? [84] Illustrator Toby Morris condemned the process as "design by committee" and noted that the structural issues were so obvious that he and other designers were able to predict the selections and outcome as soon as the process was announced. A majority of voters rejected the Kyle Lockwood-designed blue and black Silver Fern over the current Union Jack and Southern Cross combination. [92] The panel stated that it consulted vexillologists and designers to ensure that the flags chosen were workable and had no impediments. [101], The first referendum started on 20 November 2015 with voting closing three weeks later on 11 December 2015. And so does everything else", "Ten months, 10,000 designs, no new flag for New Zealand. "John Key refused to have a mature discussion about our future and who we are. The silver fern represents the growth of the nation and the. * Flag debate: Full coverage * Key: flag vote 'won't hurt my legacy' * Flag selection process 'undemocratic'. ", "Taxpayers face $25 million bill even if old flag stays", "Flag judge Julie Christie's conflicts of interest", "Gareth Morgan: Back up the flag bus now", "Grant McLachlan: Flag debate now a political turf war", "Flawed Referendum Process on changing New Zealand's Flag", "The Case For and Against Crowdsourcing: Part 2", "New Zealand announces shortlist for new flag design", "Toby Manhire: Let's run up the red flag", "How to get the flag referendum right next time", "The missing vote in New Zealand's flag referendum", "12 things the flag process got very wrong", "Questions for the Flag Consideration Panel", "Why the flag vote was for the status quo", "Redesigning the Oregon State Flag: A Case Study", "Was the New Zealand flag vote completely futile? [79] David King pointed out that a stronger brand image for the country could lead to a net financial gain, especially through exports and tourism,[19] with Key pointing out the precedent of Canada changing to its current maple-leaf flag. [30] Labour MP Trevor Mallard presented a petition signed by 30,000 people to the Committee, asking for a keep/change question to be added to the first referendum, similar to the 2011 voting system referendum. ... >Results in this report are from the monthly UMR Online Omnibus survey. [95][11] For critics of the referendum process, the problems with the design selection confirmed the ineptitude they had long suspected of the panel. [111], Voting more than once is known as personation and is identified as a corrupt electoral practice under both the Electoral Act 1993 and the Flag Referendums Act. [14][15] Then in March, Key announced that New Zealand would hold a referendum within the next three years asking whether to change the flag design, if the National Party be re-elected for a third term. "John Key attended two fundraisers for the Flag Change campaign and his staff and MPs were heavily involved in campaigning. [6][107], On 24 March 2016, the preliminary results of the second referendum were announced with the current flag winning 56.7% compared to 43.3% for the new flag.[108]. 43.3% were in favour of changing the flag to the Lockwood design. [72], Opposition parties condemned the flag as low priority compared to current issues in the public consciousness such as education, health and housing. What is your choice for the New Zealand flag? > As well as reinforcing their dislike of the proposed new design this group is also particularly responsive to a "send a message" to John Key appeal. Politics Health Education People Sport Extras About; Top ⬆ Politics Flag referendum results Caleb Tutty Thu 24/03/2016 See which flag won each electorate and how voter turnout numbers stack up ... Last updated: 19/04/2016 Caleb Tutty News Developer Recommended stories. [34], The panel reported that feedback found the themes of freedom, history, equality, respect and family to be the most significant to New Zealanders,[34] however it was later revealed that those themes were dwarfed by the amount of feedback critical of the flag change process. [35], From the 10,292 submitted designs, the Flag Consideration Panel deliberations resulted in their selection of a 'long list' shortlist of 40 designs (announced to the public on 10 August 2015). He deferred the matter until after the war, but never brought it up again. [39] After public disappointment with the official shortlist, a social media campaign was launched on 2 September[40] for the Red Peak flag. "This money could have funded a frontline melanoma drug like Keytruda, provided 5500 more hospital operations, made 43,000 state houses warm and dry, or hired 250 more police officers. The second binding referendum on the New Zealand flag will be held from 3-24 March 2016. For several decades, alternative designs have been proposed, with varying degrees of support. Before New Zealand can change its flag, we must first embrace Māori culture and integrate it completely into the New Zealand lifestyle. The results will be published on the EC site. They accused the campaign of having dubious credibility and chided the government for considering the petition without checking the details sufficiently. [25][28][6][103][42], Opponents of flag change encouraged members of the public to abstain from voting, render the voting paper invalid or strategically vote for the worst alternative flag as a protest.[104]. [5][25][26], The Flag Consideration Panel was a separate group of "respected New Zealanders" with representative age, regional, gender and ethnic demographics. "Time and again we heard voters say there were higher priorities for the $26 million the referendum cost taxpayers. [106], The second referendum started on 3 March 2016 with voting closing three weeks later on 24 March 2016. 56.7% were in favour of retaining the flag, with a voter turnout of 67.3%. In the wake of the flag referendum, the opposition leader said he voted against the alternative as it “doesn’t reflect anything about New Zealand at all”. Now allow me to backpedal a bit and justify my argument. A variation of the silver fern flag which included the silver fern and the black and white colour scheme. [71] Labour leader Andrew Little agreed that it was appropriate to discuss the flag as part of constitutional debates once the reign of Queen Elizabeth II was over. Preliminary results show 56.6 percent voted for New Zealand's existing flag and 43.2 percent for Kyle Lockwood's alternative design, with turnout of 67.3 percent. [49] Additionally, he relied on his own existing popularity as the face of the referendum to persuade the public. cultural diversity, Asia-Pacific links and independent symbols) would only increase in the future. The purpose of this group was to publicise the process, seek flag submissions and suggestions from the public, and decide on a final shortlist of options. [116], Public votes on proposed changes to the flag of New Zealand, The Wā kāinga won the top $20,000 prize in a privately organised competition run by the, The "Modern Hundertwasser" was later removed following a copyright claim from the, New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill, sec. The preliminary result of the first flag referendum has been announced as Kyle Lockwood's Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue). [41], This proposal won a Wellington newspaper flag competition in July 2004 and appeared on TV3 in 2005 after winning a poll which included the present national flag. So, the current flag is here to stay for the time being. [71][94][56][70], In September, the initial shortlist of four flags was amended to include the Red Peak flag after an online petition accrued 50,000 signatures. View Poll Results: Which way did you vote in the referendum? Derived from the maritime British blue ensign, the Kiwi flag shows the stars of the Southern Cross, representing the country's geographical position in the South Pacific, and the Union Jack, a nod to British colonial history. [19][22] Official documents depicting the current flag, such as driver licences, would have been phased out as a matter of course – in the case of driver licences, this would have been when licences are renewed and would therefore have taken up to 10 years. "I hope we get out and celebrate our flag," he said. [5], The results of both referendums were binding, meaning the flag with the most votes in the second referendum would become the official flag of New Zealand. [9], Documents revealed that Flag Consideration Panel judge Julie Christie was a board member of the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) body New Zealand Story where she "had formally agreed to support the use of the NZ Way Fern Mark in any flag design". Each column represents a vote count. Informal votes include voting papers in which the voter had not clearly indicated their first preference. "[4][5] Voters were presented with several options selected by the Flag Consideration Panel. Their purpose was to publicise the process, seek flag submissions and suggestions from the public, and decide on a final shortlist of four suitable options for the first referendum. Many people seem to think that the Southern Cross on blue reflects quite a bit about New Zealand. The black, white, and blue silver fern flag by Kyle Lockwood advanced to the second referendum. Christie had declared this as a potential conflict of interest but it was dismissed as minor. "We also as a country had a nationwide discussion about our flag, our nationhood, what we stand for.". [83] The selection was lambasted as unappealing, clichéd, dull, superficial and too logo-like. Since then the First Referendum has been held and it’s the Black, White and Blue Silver Fern design which came out as the Preferred Alternative, and that’s the one that will go head-to-head against the current New Zealand flag in the Second Referendum in March 2016. Matthew Hooton pointed out that there would have been sufficient national momentum in the aftermath of the 2011 Rugby World Cup instead. The official numbers tell the story, with 56.6 per cent of eligible voters - 1,200,003 people - opting to retain the existing flag, while 915,008 people chose Lockwood's Silver Fern. Total votes in first flag referendum – 1,543,362; Total party votes, 2014 general election – 2,104,707; So that’s a healthy turnout. flag. Using the preferential voting system,[102] it asked voters to rank the five shortlisted flag alternatives in order of preference. NZ First leader Winston Peters, former National Party official Grant McLachlan and others felt that instead of respectfully incorporating wider public opinion, this inclusion was an arbitrary deference to a trendy but unrepresentative social media campaign at the expense of established procedure and other, larger social media campaigns about the flag. Pro-change flag campaigner Lewis Holden said despite the current flag winning out, he was "ecstatic" about what had happened. [26] In hindsight, the National Business Review suggests that politicisation contributed to the referendum's failure, because the debate and the alternative flag designs were so heavily associated with Key and the National Party rather than the actual flag change itself. The preliminary flag referendum results released by the Electoral Commission show a high voter turnout and big win for the current flag, but the challenger design also had a strong showing.. [69][56][12][62][70] Political commentators also suggested that the timing was futile. Flags are arranged vertically according to the number of votes at each count. Former Green MP Keith Locke also pointed out that the 43% result was a marked increase over previous opinion polls that showed support for change in the 20–30% range. Alex Crouch is a 2014 journalism graduate from Southampton Solent University. The vote is in and we have gone with the New Zealand flag, which has been the official New Zealand emblem since 1902. Last chance to vote in flag referendum this week. You can read more Flag Institute articles on the New Zealand Flag Referendum here. Stuart Nash presented quotes in the Regulatory Impact Statement document admitting that referendum options were restricted by prior decisions by the National Party dominated Cabinet and prime minister, accusing them of pre-determining the process. [6] All 10,292 submitted design proposals were presented to the public on the New Zealand government website. Thus, the panel was accused of being sycophantic and undermining their mandate to be neutral and democratic, which restricted the options available to the public and ruined the reputation of the whole process. [29] It was then considered by the Justice and Electoral Select Committee. [65][49][66][12][61][67] For example, according to a January 2016 poll by UMR, 16% of those sampled said that they planned to vote to "send a message to John Key". New Zealand First refused to participate. Informal votes include voting papers where the voter had not clearly indicated their preference (e.g. [58] Others said it was necessary to constitutionally remove British sovereignty before considering whether to remove a symbol of British sovereignty from the flag. "Whether this was the time for a flag change or not, it did not come about because the PM's handling of it ensured the result we got tonight.". New Zealanders should send John Key a message by voting for the current flag". Contribute to jayniehaka/nz-flag-referendum development by creating an account on GitHub. Analysis: what will the referendum mean for the PM? Black and Blue Fern Flag Source: 1 NEWS Voting closed at 7pm tonight. [114] Change the NZ Flag wound up and its web domain and Facebook page were taken over by New Zealand Republic. [11] Some commentators suggested that the flags should have been evaluated only by professional designers. Key promised there would be no more attempts to change the flag while he was in office. The second flag referendum preliminary results are in and New Zealanders have voted in favour of the current flag. [8][9][10][11] From an aggregation of analyses, the consensus was that the referendum was "a bewildering process that seems to have satisfied few".[12]. The most popular design would contend with the current national flag in the second referendum. ", "Flag referendum: Red Peak design to be added as fifth option – John Key", "Duncan Garner: The flagging fortunes of a leader chasing a legacy", "New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill — First Reading", "New Zealand's prime minister John Key wants a new flag. John Oliver mocks NZ flag", "Winning design of new NZ flag contest slammed", "Five reasons the flag-change campaign failed", "Flag critiqued for similarities to political parties' logos", "What Twitter said about the final four New Zealand flag options", "Why the Koru flag is the 'best of the bunch, "New Zealanders offered flag shortlist ask: can we have this one instead? This fern design ended up as one of the shortlist entries. 21 Mar 2016. By the end of today, New Zealand will know if it has a new flag. Preliminary results were released on the night of 11 December; official results were declared on 15 December. This result would not have changed the coat of arms (which includes the current national flag), national Māori flag, nor the flags of Associated States (Cook Islands and Niue), nor the New Zealand Red Ensign (merchant marine), White Ensign (naval), (both incorporating Union Flags) police flag and fire service flag (which are based on the current flag). Ten months and tens of million dollars later, the existing flag has won an historic referendum with more than 56% of the vote. – video", "New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill – Schedule 1", "Referendums on the New Zealand Flag > Voting in the first referendum > How Preferential Voting works", "Process to consider changing New Zealand flag", "Revealed: Plots to gerrymander flag referendum", "First Referendum on the New Zealand Flag – Final Results by Count Report", "New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill – Schedule 2", "New Zealand votes to keep flag in referendum", "Final Result by Electorate for the Second Referendum on the New Zealand Flag, on the question "What is your choice for the New Zealand Flag, "Alleged flag voting paper theft investigated", "Not a bad result for opponents of the colonial flag", Official referendum and flag submission website, Historical flags of the British Empire and the overseas territories, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2015–2016_New_Zealand_flag_referendums&oldid=1001009083, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Silver fern flag 28 36.36%. "[Key] made his desire for a fern flag known from the outset," he said. John Edens, Jack van Beynen, Rosanna Price and Alice Peacock, Five referred to police over flag referendum voter impersonation claims. This flag received similar feedback to the above variation. 79% in this group agree and only 17% disagree that "flag referendum has been a distraction and a waste of money. Chair: John Burrows, former deputy chancellor of the, Julie Christie, reality television producer, Nicky Bell, chief executive of New Zealand branch of, This page was last edited on 17 January 2021, at 20:32. There were complaints that the four initial designs did not offer sufficient variety, as only one did not feature a large silver fern dividing the field, and two were identical except for a colour choice,[49] prompting accusations of groupthink and favouritism amongst the panel. Invalid votes include voting papers that were unreadable or cancelled. If the flag had been changed, it would have been legal to have continued to fly the current flag of New Zealand, which would have been "recognised as a flag of historical significance. "I'm really actually ecstatic about this result," he said. On 23 September, the Green Party MP Gareth Hughes attempted to introduce a bill to parliament to include Red Peak as an option in the first referendum. Updated 24 Mar 2016. Voters will be asked to choose between the most preferred flag design selected in this referendum and the current flag. 39, Flag Referendums Act 2015, §59 and Electoral Act 1993, §224, constitutionally remove British sovereignty, Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association, North American Vexillological Association, International Federation of Vexillological Associations, "Second Referendum on the New Zealand Flag Preliminary Result", "Govt budget allows almost $500,000 for a high-profile panel out of $25m cost to decide national symbol", "First steps taken towards flag referendum", "New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill, Part 2, Subpart 4, Clause 20", "Widespread abstention in New Zealand flag referendum", "Political roundup: The 20 best analyses of the flag referendum result", "New Zealand to hold referendum on changing to 'post-colonial' flag", "Flag Consideration Panel answers the six top questions", "New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill – amendments", "New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill, Part 3, Clause 70", "§58 National colours and other flags – Ship Registration Act 1992", "Julie Christie and Beatrice Faumina to help decide NZ's new flag", "Flag change referendums come one step closer", "NZ First backs 'fight for the flag' campaign", "Flag debate votes a biased process – Mallard", "New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill — In Committee", "The Panel's report to the Responsible Minister | NZ Government", "Forty flags, and only one with a Union Jack—so which one is best? Kyle Lockwood was walking home to his flat … The first New Zealand flag referendum was decided using instant run-off voting, which Wikipedia can explain better than me: It is a preferential voting system in which voters rank the candidates in order of preference. The purpose of the cross-party group was to review draft legislation allowing for the referendums to take place, and to nominate candidates for a Flag Consideration Panel by mid February 2015. [100], If the New Zealand flag changes, which flag would you prefer? [69], Professionals have pointed out that the process ignored established best practices in the fields of market research, design and vexillology. Prime Minister John Key, who had actively supported the Silver Fern option, acknowledged that he was ‘a little bit disappointed that the flag didn‘t change’ but encou… Hover over the rectangles and the links to see how many votes were counted and transferred. Ballots are initially distributed based on each elector's first preference. Sankey diagram of NZ flag referendum results. Woah. [11] These were openly viewable on the government's website and became disseminated and mocked on worldwide media, threatening the prestige of the whole process. Prime minister John Key's drive to run the referendums was seen as disproportionate compared to apathy among the public. [45] In January 2014, Prime Minister John Key floated the idea of a referendum on a new flag at the 2014 general election. [49][56] For comparison, the North American Vexillological Association's accepted flag design process also involves soliciting public design suggestions, but these submissions are seen only by design experts and vexillologists who then evaluate the entries and make necessary refinements or make new designs based on the suggestions. The added work of calculating results for individual electorates under preferential voting made no vote breakdown by electorate be available. Voters ranked Kyle Lockwood's Silver Fern (Black, White and Blue) design as the most preferred out of the five options. [27] The members of the Flag Consideration Panel were:[28], The legislation to set up the referendums passed its first Parliament hearing on 12 March 2015 with a vote of 76 to 43. "While we respect the views of the many who voted for a new flag, it was not to be," he said. [110], On 8 and 9 March, the Electoral Commission referred four more cases of apparent multiple voting to police. His statements on the topic of New Zealand's identity and colonial legacy were mixed, which confused the public. [20], Various members of parliament accused the process and documents of being biased. 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