New Zealand firefighter referendum, 1995

The firefighter referendum of 1995 was a Citizens Initiated Referendum held in New Zealand on 2 December 1995, 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	%	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.