Citizens' Voice — citizens' assemblies

The Policy: TOP Citizens' Voice Policy — 2026 Election →

Pitched as a circuit-breaker for political gridlock, TOP's Citizens' Voice policy would establish randomly selected citizens' assemblies to deliberate on the long-term issues successive governments have failed to resolve — from superannuation and housing to healthcare, infrastructure, and Te Tiriti's constitutional role — backed by an independent Parliamentary Commissioner to hold government accountable to the results.

What it does

• Two-part structure: The policy combines Citizens' Assemblies — approximately 100 randomly selected, demographically stratified New Zealanders who deliberate part-time over several months — with a new Parliamentary Commissioner for Citizens' Voice, an independent office that convenes assemblies, ensures integrity, deploys digital democracy tools, and demands government formally respond to recommendations.
• Who is selected: Participants are chosen by sortition (random ballot) stratified to reflect the population across age, region, income, life experience, and viewpoint. Māori participation is ensured through direct inclusion and dedicated iwi engagement, with the Public Service Commission recommending all such processes be "Te Tiriti-led" with mana whenua involvement from the outset.
• How it works: Participants hear from experts, affected communities, and stakeholders via workshops, field trips, focus groups, and digital surveys before working toward consensus-based recommendations delivered to Parliament. Government does not have to implement recommendations but must publicly respond — accountability is through scrutiny, not legal enforcement.
• Target issues: TOP's policy page lists superannuation, housing reform, climate adaptation, healthcare, infrastructure investment, workforce automation, and constitutional reform as priority topics — all identified as areas where short electoral cycles create chronic political paralysis.
• Cost: An estimated $10–15 million annually for multiple full-scale assemblies. Participants are compensated at a part-time salary equivalent, similar to jury service. By comparison, the New Democracy Foundation notes similar national-level assemblies in Australia cost around AU$1.1 million per assembly.
• Who misses out: Assemblies are advisory only — Parliament retains sovereignty. Those not selected (the vast majority of citizens) participate only through background submissions and digital surveys, not direct deliberation. There is no pathway for assembly recommendations to override legislation.
• New Zealand precedent: Local-level assemblies have operated since 2022. The Watercare Citizens' Assembly (Auckland, 2022) brought together 40 randomly selected Aucklanders over seven weeks on water supply options, recommending direct recycled water. Auckland Council and Te Mānatu Waka have run further deliberative forums on transport since 2023.
• International track record: Ireland's Constitutional Convention (designed by Art O'Leary, now Electoral Commission CEO) preceded the 2018 abortion referendum — the assembly's 67–34 vote matched the eventual referendum result of 66–34. France's Citizens' Convention for Climate produced 149 proposals, though critics note industry lobbying diluted most of them before implementation.

The result

TOP — led since November 2025 by Qiulae Wong — announced Citizens' Voice on 15 June 2025, with David Webb (lawyer and party spokesperson) arguing that "politics as usual isn't working" and that "everyday New Zealanders, when given information and time, can find common ground." The party is polling at around 4.6% (One News/Verian, June 2026) — just below the 5% threshold for parliamentary entry without an electorate seat.

Constitutional law expert Andrew Butler (Victoria University) views citizens' assemblies as genuinely complementary to select committees, noting "democratic fatigue" as political parties increasingly fail to function as forums for genuine deliberation. A Democracy Forum at Parliament (March 2026) hosted by Labour's Duncan Webb and National's Vanessa Weenink showed bipartisan interest in the concept, though no major party has adopted it as policy.

Critics are pointed. Alicia McKay — a public management writer — argued in May 2026 that "participation is not the same as power," that assemblies bypass local government (already the closest thing to direct democracy) without redistributing real decision-making authority, and that distrust stems from "inequality, institutional fragmentation, economic precarity, media systems built on outrage" — not from a lack of new deliberative mechanisms. Levi Pruden of the Equal Justice Project (August 2025) flags New Zealand's entrenched parliamentary sovereignty as a structural barrier to institutional embedding of assembly recommendations. Some forum participants called the concept "hopelessly naïve," pointing out that public submissions to select committees have grown substantially, suggesting participation is already improving. In France, the Citizens' Convention for Climate saw industries mobilise against citizens' recommendations until "nothing much remained of the original ambition."

National leader Christopher Luxon has dismissed Opportunity's electoral prospects, suggesting a vote for the party "looks like a vote for Labour and the Greens."

Neutrality note: The Citizens' Voice policy intersects with Te Tiriti and constitutional questions. This overview presents all positions as attributed claims and does not endorse any constitutional interpretation.

The impacts to watch

• Mandate pressure: If assemblies recommend action on superannuation age or wealth taxes and government rejects the recommendations, the Commissioner's public accountability function could intensify political pressure in ways that bypass normal parliamentary dynamics.
• Sortition and Māori representation: Random selection with Māori inclusion requirements may create tension with iwi-led tikanga processes; the design of "dedicated iwi engagement" alongside general sortition will be closely watched by Māori communities.
• Institutional permanence: A Parliamentary Commissioner is a significant new office. If TOP enters coalition, a future government could defund or marginalise the Commissioner — the policy offers public scrutiny but no legal entrenchment.
• Electoral viability: At 4.6% in mid-2026 polling, TOP must either clear 5% or win an electorate seat to bring any of its policies into Parliament. Without that threshold, Citizens' Voice remains a campaign proposal.