Happy Friday, everyone!
On my travels through the Citizen Space Aggregator this week (over 1000 open consultations!), I’ve noticed a flurry of activity coming out of New Zealand. Delib’s base of operations in New Zealand and Australia continues to grow, and we’ve brought some really interesting Kiwi customers into the fold lately.
Here’s what some of them have been up to lately.
Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Health is running a large-scale public consultation on proposals for making Aotearoa (New Zealand) smoke-free by 2025. Proposals include reducing the amount of nicotine in tobacco products, vastly reducing the number of shops selling tobacco/vapes, and investing in programmes that make it easier for smokers to quit. I was interested to read the MoH were upfront about the fact that reducing availability of tobacco products will result in a black market for cigarettes.
Why it’s good: They want as many New Zealanders, smokers and non-smokers, to respond as possible. They’ve kept the language plain and simple, they’ve clearly explained what’s expected of the respondent, and although viewing the consultation document is encouraged, there’s a chapter dedicated to an overview of the proposals.
Ministry of Education
The Ministry of Education are consulting on some proposed changes to school councils, namely whether voting should be possible electronically and some changes to the way said councils operate.
Why it’s good: This is a very simple and easy-to-follow survey, with just one page of questions. The team have been careful to avoid bias in any of the questions, asking what the ‘benefits and challenges’ to each proposal would be.
Hamilton City Council
Hamilton are consulting on a proposal to remove a bylaw on open-air burning in Hamilton. Council ‘determined that a bylaw is not the most appropriate means of controlling the issue of open air burning in Hamilton’, so they want to see what residents think.
Why it’s good: It’s pretty simple – do people agree or not, and why? Information on the bylaws is embedded in the overview page so there’s no extra reading required. I liked that there’s an option asking whether respondents would like to make an in-person verbal submission to complement their online response. They can add their contact details in on the next page if they so wish and Council will contact them to arrange it.
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