Kate Hawkesby: Cannabis and euthanasia are complicated issues to vote on – Newstalk ZB

We have a government who likes referendums and it looks like next year we'll have two of them.

Cannabis and euthanasia.

There are those who say it's only democratic that the public get to have their say and decide, there are others who argue that politicians get paid the big bucks to make the hard decisions, why should we have to?

I think it's fair to let the public have their say, but it does open up the issue as to how informed the public is when it does.

Complex and multifaceted issues being reduced to a simple yes or no tick in a box, feels a bit cheap.

There is the risk of referendums being just for the campaigners of each side of the issues, a concern that many people won't bother to vote.

So if you don't vote you can't complain right? Yes we get that, but is it still an accurate reflection of what the population thinks?

And do we get enough time to digest all the issues around simple yes or no questions?

Do we truly understand what we're voting for?

How much are we swayed by the last person we spoke to or what our neighbour thinks?

What sort of mindset are we in when we cast that vote?

Would we have voted differently if we had more time or more experience?

Then there's the expectation factor, these issues are polled for months out from any vote, so there's some insight into the public appetite for or against something.

Euthanasia for example, has been polled for years, for about 20 years we've surveyed whether people support the right to die, and some form of assisted dying has consistently achieved an average of about 68 percent support.

In fact, a One News Colmar Brunton poll in July this year had about 72 percent support for assisted dying of some sort.

So the trend looks in favour, but does that make the outcome now a certainty?

Well who knows?

Public campaigns can shift sentiment, persuasive politicians can cause disquiet.

Nationals's Alfred Ngaro told the house yesterday a referendum would be an abdication of power by MP's and that it was irresponsible. That it was "unleashing a complex and difficult society-impacting decision onto the public."

Well yes that's the point isn't it?

So given that, the onus is on us to be ready for it.

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Kate Hawkesby: Cannabis and euthanasia are complicated issues to vote on - Newstalk ZB