Will there be a vote on four-year political term?

ACT leader David Seymour (left), National's Christopher Luxon and NZ First leader Winston Peters....
ACT leader David Seymour (left), National's Christopher Luxon and NZ First leader Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he may bring four-year political terms to a national vote at the next election.

At present, a general election is held in New Zealand every three years.

At the Bloomberg Address in Auckland today, Luxon said that four-year political terms have cross-party support.

He said it was not the government's top priority right now, but he planned to push a referendum in time for the next election in 2026.

Coalition partners NZ First and ACT have called for four-year political terms in the past.

In January, National said it had no position on a four-year term, despite committing to introduce legislation on it and such a move having broad support in Parliament.

Under the coalition agreements, ACT leader David Seymour's Constitution (Enabling a 4-Year Term) Amendment Bill is set to pass its first reading within the government's first 15 months.

"I think a lot of people agree that having three years is too short," Seymour told RNZ then.

"We'd get careful, considered law-making more often if we had a four-year term. It's about 180 countries in the world that have some sort of Parliament, only three of them work on a three-year term."