1995 New Zealand firefighter referendum

The first Citizens Initiated Referendum was held in New Zealand on 2 December 1995 (1995-12-02), based on the question:

1995 New Zealand firefighter referendum

2 December 1995 (1995-12-02)
"Should the number of professional firefighters employed full time in the New Zealand Fire Service be reduced below the number employed on 1 January 1995?"
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 79,475 12.18% No 572,919 87.82% Valid votes 652,394 100.00% Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00% Total votes 652,394 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,419,958 26.96%

Should the number of professional firefighters employed full time in the New Zealand Fire Service be reduced below the number employed on 1 January 1995?

Results

The referendum returned an extremely low voter turnout, with less than 27% of enrolled voters casting a vote.

Results of the referendum, overall and by electorate

Electorate	Y %	Votes	N %	Votes	Total valid votes	Electors on Roll	Turnout
Total	12.18%	79,475	87.82%	572,919	652,394	2,419,958	26.96%
Albany	9.95%	1,180	90.05%	10,675	11,855	38,960	30.43%
Aoraki	11.75%	1,428	88.25%	10,722	12,150	38,960	31.83%
Auckland Central	11.09%	991	88.91%	7,945	8,936	38,599	23.15%
Banks Peninsula	15.95%	2,335	84.05%	12,307	14,642	42,408	34.53%
Bay of Plenty	11.60%	1,027	88.40%	7,828	8,855	38,333	23.10%
Christchurch Central	10.87%	1,163	89.13%	9,538	10,701	35,478	30.16%
Christchurch East	7.89%	1,058	92.11%	12,355	13,413	37,077	36.18%
Clutha-Southland	13.90%	1,184	86.10%	7,335	8,519	38,158	22.33%
Coromandel	11.67%	1,160	88.33%	8,781	9,941	40,996	24.25%
Dunedin North	10.02%	1,360	89.98%	12,213	13,573	37,976	35.74%
Dunedin South	8.13%	1,334	91.87%	15,084	16,418	40,672	40.37%
Epsom	21.79%	1,873	78.21%	6,723	8,596	39,957	21.51%
Hamilton East	11.51%	1,058	88.49%	8,734	9,792	37,349	26.22%
Hamilton West	8.11%	835	91.89%	9,465	10,300	38,732	26.59%
Hunua	10.70%	962	89.30%	8,032	8,994	35,006	25.96%
Hutt South	18.11%	1,894	81.89%	8,566	10,460	36,669	28.53%
Ilam	20.61%	2,724	79.39%	10,496	13,220	41,867	31.58%
Invercargill	8.66%	1,054	91.94%	11,113	12,167	38,171	31.87%
Kaikoura	15.55%	1,481	84.45%	8,045	9,526	39,131	24.34%
Karapiro	10.69%	883	89.31%	7,376	8,259	38,203	21.62%
Mahia	10.15%	863	89.85%	7,639	8,502	33,316	25.52%
Mana	15.85%	1,507	84.15%	8,001	9,508	32,950	28.86%
Mangere	7.83%	452	92.17%	5,317	5,769	29,385	19.63%
Manukau East	9.56%	744	90.44%	7,036	7,780	36,906	21.08
Manurewa	6.26%	455	93.74%	6,814	7,269	31,324	23.21%
Maungakiekie	9.48%	864	90.52%	8,254	9,118	36,313	25.11%
Napier	9.74%	1,155	90.26%	10,706	11,861	37,594	31.55%
Nelson	14.45%	1,605	85.55%	9,504	11,109	39,510	28.12%
New Lynn	6.95%	710	93.05%	9,509	10,219	35,016	29.18%
New Plymouth	9.54%	1,217	90.56%	11,540	12,757	39,913	31.96%
North Shore	14.26%	1,751	85.74%	10,530	12,281	40,741	30.14%
Northcote	9.62%	1,082	90.38%	10,164	11,246	38,524	29.19%
Northland	13.27%	926	86.73%	6,051	6,977	34,814	20.04%
Ohariu-Belmont	23.36%	2,409	76.64%	7,904	10,313	37,715	27.34%
Otago	12.36%	1,337	87.64%	9,483	10,820	42,047	25.73%
Otaki	16.15%	1,914	83.85%	9,934	11,848	40,005	29.62%
Owairaka	9.65%	939	90.35%	8,794	9,733	37,337	26.07%
Pakuranga	11.72%	1,218	88.28%	9,175	10,393	38,815	26.78%
Palmerston North	12.25%	1,412	87.75%	10,118	11,530	38,355	30.06%
Port Waikato	8.56%	688	91.44%	7,351	8,039	34,068	23.60%
Rakaia	17.21%	1,748	82.79%	8,406	10,154	38,878	26.12%
Rangitikei	12.42%	1,405	87.68%	9,911	11,316	38,277	29.56%
Rimutaka	13.00%	1,565	87.00%	10,476	12,041	36,794	32.73%
Rodney	9.89%	1,156	90.11%	10,530	11,686	42,522	27.48%
Rongotai	17.65%	1,934	82.35%	9,021	10,955	40,477	27.06%
Rotorua	12.17%	1,115	87.85%	8,046	9,161	35,443	25.85%
Tamaki	17.98%	1,659	82.02%	7,567	9,226	35,924	25.68%
Taranaki-King Country	12.49%	905	87.51%	6,338	7,243	33,883	21.38%
Taupo	13.05%	998	86.95%	6,647	7,645	35,412	21.59%
Tauranga	11.26%	1,269	88.74%	10,002	11,271	43,475	25.93%
Tukituki	11.66%	1,203	88.31%	9,117	10,320	37,321	27.65%
Waimakariri	11.24%	1,499	88.76%	11,841	13,340	39,119	34.10%
Waipareira	6.32%	648	93.68%	9,610	10,258	38,561	26.60%
Wairarapa	14.90%	1,626	85.10%	9,287	10,913	38,204	28.57%
Waitakere	7.41%	809	92.69%	10,115	10,924	36,593	29.85%
Wellington Central	33.33%	3,738	66.67%	7,476	11,214	44,328	25.30%
West Coast-Tasman	11.21%	1,115	88.79%	8,830	9,945	36,004	27.62%
Whanganui	9.06%	1,098	90.94%	11,022	12,120	37,954	31.93%
Whangarei	9.53%	1,137	90.47%	10,788	11,925	38,878	30.67%
Wigram	8.08%	1,139	91.92%	12,952	14,091	39,983	35.24%
Te Puku O Te Whenua	8.19%	278	91.81%	3,117	3,395	25,691	13.21%
Te Tai Hauauru	7.50%	266	92.50%	3,280	3,546	30,916	11.47%
Te Tai Rawhiti	7.92%	281	92.08%	3,269	3,550	30,097	11.80%
Te Tai Tokerau	8.18%	336	91.82%	3,772	4,108	30,094	13.56%
Te Tai Tonga	6.78%	316	93.22%	4,342	4,658	28,564	16.31%

Aftermath

The referendum was rejected with a huge margin, but career firefighter numbers were reduced regardless. There were 1819 career firefighters on 1 January 1995, 1573 in 1998 and 1702 in 2009.