1995 New Zealand firefighter referendum

The firefighter referendum of 1995 was the first Citizens Initiated Referendum held in New Zealand on 2 December 1995 (1995-12-02), based on the question:

"Should the number of professional firefighters employed full time in the New Zealand Fire Service be reduced below the number employed on 1 January 1995?"

Results

The referendum returned an extremely low voter turnout, with less than 27% of enrolled voters casting a vote.

Results of the referendum, overall and by electorate[1]
Electorate Y % Votes N % Votes Total valid votes Electors on Roll Turnout
Total 12.18% 79,475 87.82% 572,919 652,394 2,419,958 26.96%
Albany 9.95% 1,180 90.05% 10,675 11,855 38,960 30.43%
Aoraki 11.75% 1,428 88.25% 10,722 12,150 38,960 31.83%
Auckland Central 11.09% 991 88.91% 7,945 8,936 38,599 23.15%
Banks Peninsula 15.95% 2,335 84.05% 12,307 14,642 42,408 34.53%
Bay of Plenty 11.60% 1,027 88.40% 7,828 8,855 38,333 23.10%
Christchurch Central 10.87% 1,163 89.13% 9,538 10,701 35,478 30.16%
Christchurch East 7.89% 1,058 92.11% 12,355 13,413 37,077 36.18%
Clutha-Southland 13.90% 1,184 86.10% 7,335 8,519 38,158 22.33%
Coromandel 11.67% 1,160 88.33% 8,781 9,941 40,996 24.25%
Dunedin North 10.02% 1,360 89.98% 12,213 13,573 37,976 35.74%
Dunedin South 8.13% 1,334 91.87% 15,084 16,418 40,672 40.37%
Epsom 21.79% 1,873 78.21% 6,723 8,596 39,957 21.51%
Hamilton East 11.51% 1,058 88.49% 8,734 9,792 37,349 26.22%
Hamilton West 8.11% 835 91.89% 9,465 10,300 38,732 26.59%
Hunua 10.70% 962 89.30% 8,032 8,994 35,006 25.96%
Hutt South 18.11% 1,894 81.89% 8,566 10,460 36,669 28.53%
Ilam 20.61% 2,724 79.39% 10,496 13,220 41,867 31.58%
Invercargill 8.66% 1,054 91.94% 11,113 12,167 38,171 31.87%
Kaikoura 15.55% 1,481 84.45% 8,045 9,526 39,131 24.34%
Karapiro 10.69% 883 89.31% 7,376 8,259 38,203 21.62%
Mahia 10.15% 863 89.85% 7,639 8,502 33,316 25.52%
Mana 15.85% 1,507 84.15% 8,001 9,508 32,950 28.86%
Mangere 7.83% 452 92.17% 5,317 5,769 29,385 19.63%
Manukau East 9.56% 744 90.44% 7,036 7,780 36,906 21.08
Manurewa 6.26% 455 93.74% 6,814 7,269 31,324 23.21%
Maungakiekie 9.48% 864 90.52% 8,254 9,118 36,313 25.11%
Napier 9.74% 1,155 90.26% 10,706 11,861 37,594 31.55%
Nelson 14.45% 1,605 85.55% 9,504 11,109 39,510 28.12%
New Lynn 6.95% 710 93.05% 9,509 10,219 35,016 29.18%
New Plymouth 9.54% 1,217 90.56% 11,540 12,757 39,913 31.96%
North Shore 14.26% 1,751 85.74% 10,530 12,281 40,741 30.14%
Northcote 9.62% 1,082 90.38% 10,164 11,246 38,524 29.19%
Northland 13.27% 926 86.73% 6,051 6,977 34,814 20.04%
Ohariu-Belmont 23.36% 2,409 76.64% 7,904 10,313 37,715 27.34%
Otago 12.36% 1,337 87.64% 9,483 10,820 42,047 25.73%
Otaki 16.15% 1,914 83.85% 9,934 11,848 40,005 29.62%
Owairaka 9.65% 939 90.35% 8,794 9,733 37,337 26.07%
Pakuranga 11.72% 1,218 88.28% 9,175 10,393 38,815 26.78%
Palmerston North 12.25% 1,412 87.75% 10,118 11,530 38,355 30.06%
Port Waikato 8.56% 688 91.44% 7,351 8,039 34,068 23.60%
Rakaia 17.21% 1,748 82.79% 8,406 10,154 38,878 26.12%
Rangitikei 12.42% 1,405 87.68% 9,911 11,316 38,277 29.56%
Rimutaka 13.00% 1,565 87.00% 10,476 12,041 36,794 32.73%
Rodney 9.89% 1,156 90.11% 10,530 11,686 42,522 27.48%
Rongotai 17.65% 1,934 82.35% 9,021 10,955 40,477 27.06%
Rotorua 12.17% 1,115 87.85% 8,046 9,161 35,443 25.85%
Tamaki 17.98% 1,659 82.02% 7,567 9,226 35,924 25.68%
Taranaki-King Country 12.49% 905 87.51% 6,338 7,243 33,883 21.38%
Taupo 13.05% 998 86.95% 6,647 7,645 35,412 21.59%
Tauranga 11.26% 1,269 88.74% 10,002 11,271 43,475 25.93%
Tukituki 11.66% 1,203 88.31% 9,117 10,320 37,321 27.65%
Waimakariri 11.24% 1,499 88.76% 11,841 13,340 39,119 34.10%
Waipareira 6.32% 648 93.68% 9,610 10,258 38,561 26.60%
Wairarapa 14.90% 1,626 85.10% 9,287 10,913 38,204 28.57%
Waitakere 7.41% 809 92.69% 10,115 10,924 36,593 29.85%
Wellington Central 33.33% 3,738 66.67% 7,476 11,214 44,328 25.30%
West Coast-Tasman 11.21% 1,115 88.79% 8,830 9,945 36,004 27.62%
Whanganui 9.06% 1,098 90.94% 11,022 12,120 37,954 31.93%
Whangarei 9.53% 1,137 90.47% 10,788 11,925 38,878 30.67%
Wigram 8.08% 1,139 91.92% 12,952 14,091 39,983 35.24%
Te Puku O Te Whenua 8.19% 278 91.81% 3,117 3,395 25,691 13.21%
Te Tai Hauauru 7.50% 266 92.50% 3,280 3,546 30,916 11.47%
Te Tai Rawhiti 7.92% 281 92.08% 3,269 3,550 30,097 11.80%
Te Tai Tokerau 8.18% 336 91.82% 3,772 4,108 30,094 13.56%
Te Tai Tonga 6.78% 316 93.22% 4,342 4,658 28,564 16.31%

Aftermath

The referendum was rejected with a huge margin, but career firefighter numbers were reduced regardless. There were 1819 career firefighters on 1 January 1995, 1573 in 1998 and 1702 in 2009.[2]

References
  1. "7.1 Returns of Citizens Initiated Referendum Poll Votes" (PDF). Elections New Zealand. December 2, 1995. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  2. Collins, Simon (17 November 2009). "Group calls for veto of referendum". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
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