Labour leader Chris Hipkins isn't ruling out a referendum on whether the election term should be raised from three years to four should his party be voted back into power later this year.
Hipkins said he was personally in favour of the four-year term, which was among a raft of changes suggested in a proposal to shake up the electoral system.
The proposal, released by an independent panel on Tuesday, also recommended lowering the voting age and threshold for minor parties to get into Parliament.
Hipkins told AM although he may be on board with the four-year term, it would ultimately be up to the public to decide.
"I think it's important the public have the chance to have their say on those recommendations," he said.
"The Labour Party will put out a policy before the election which makes it clear any electoral changes that we would propose to make in the next Parliamentary term - we haven't done that yet so this review will help to inform all political parties to form their judgement," Hipkins told AM co-host Laura Tupou.
With submissions on the proposal now open for the general public, Hipkins said New Zealanders get the chance to have their say.
"In principle, I support a four-year term - I think you'd find most MPs would support a four-year term but we do have somewhat of a vested interest in those decisions and, ultimately, it would be a matter for the public by way of a referendum. I haven't yet considered whether or not a referendum should be put before the public on it, it's not something I've given any thought to and I'd want to do that before making a call on that."
During Newshub's 2020 election debate, then Labour and National leaders Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins were in agreement four year terms were a good idea.
