Focusing solely on the outcome of a referendum ignores the effect of campaigning, a proponent of New Zealand's first citizen-initiated referendum says.
Legislation was introduced in 1993 allowing citizen-initiated referenda, where 10 percent of enrolled electors had signed a petition calling for it.
In 1995, the first such referendum was held.
It asked: "Should the number of professional firefighters employed full time in the New Zealand Fire Service be reduced below the number employed on January 1 1995?"
The referendum required people to make a special trip to vote in person and turnout was only 27 percent.
However, 87.8 percent said no and 12.2 percent yes.
The number of firefighters was cut before the referendum and was not increased to the pre-January 1 level as the majority of people wanted.
Professional Firefighters Union secretary Derek Best said if people only looked at the result of the referendum it would appear to have been a failure.
But 80 percent of the benefit came from campaigning and collecting the signatures required, he said.
Firefighters managed to collect more than enough signatures in six weeks.
"It was a massive morale boost... people were queuing up to sign," Mr Best told NZPA.
The actual referendum was only the "icing the cake".
The issue of the number of firefighters was previously seen as an employment issue but the referendum opened it up to the public and sent officials a message, he said.
Although the number of firefighters was not increased to pre-January 1 levels, "frequent mentions" were made to the referendum result in future consultations.
Despite "nothing formal" happening it had a significant impact, Mr Best said.
Anyone who just looks at the result "missed the point of the campaigning effect".
