ourconstitution.org.nz

There is some rather important public consultation going on right now that has slipped under the political radar of most people. Well, ok, most people don't have a political radar, but it's not very high profile anyway.

The Constitutional Advisory Panel is currently seeking public submissions on New Zealand's constitution until July 2013. Contrary to popular belief, New Zealand does have a constitution it just isn't contained in any one document. We are one of only three countries in the World to not have a written constitution (along with the UK and Israel).

Anyway, the panel is asking some rather deep and important questions, such as:

• How do you want our country to be run in the future?
• Do you think our constitution should be written in a single document?
• Does the Bill of Rights Act protect your rights enough?
• What role do you think the Treaty of Waitangi could have in our constitution?
• How could Māori electoral participation be improved?
• How many members of Parliament should we have?
• How long should the term of Parliament be?
• And plenty of other important, but potentially boring, questions.

Anyway, at some point between now and July you should head on over to ourconstitution.org.nz and share some of your views on these issues. You can either use their easy to use online forms, or attach your pre-prepared word documents, depending on how many views you want to share. Also, we should find some issues we all agree on and send an official Dinosaurs & Dandelions submission. Except it seems like hard work and I'll never get around to it.

But yes, join the "Constitution Conversation" now or forever hold your peace. I know I'll be sharing my 2 cents.