Referendum results: How Whanganui leaders reacted

The referendum on the End of Life Choice Bill passed with 65.2 per cent of voters ticking yes. Photo / 123RF

The referendum on the End of Life Choice Bill passed in a landslide, with 65.2 per cent of voters ticking yes, while 33.8 per cent did not support the progression of the bill.

The numbers released on Friday are preliminary with special votes still to be counted.

The referendum on the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill was more controversial, with 46.1 per cent of voters in favour of the bill, while 53.1 per cent were opposed.

Rangitīkei MP Ian McKelvie said he voted against both referendums, after listening to the cannabis debate play out in public, and the euthanasia debate play out in the house.

On the euthanasia issue, McKelvie said the vote represented the response to the bill in Parliament, which he had sat in on and debated for many years now.

"I think that result was predictable, and it actually reflects the vote in Parliament," he said. "The community and Parliament were very much on the same page to some extent.

"I expected it to pass and I think, well if that's what the community wants I think it'll be managed pretty well."

McKelvie was similarly opposed on the issue of cannabis, but believed the debate was much less robust.

"In a funny way I'm pleased about the cannabis result. It was quite close, but I'm pleased about it because I don't think it was dealt with at all well. I was disappointed with campaigning on both sides of the issue.

Rangitīkei MP Ian McKelvie. Photo / File

"I think there'll be an opportunity to revisit it in the future."

Asked if he had ever smoked cannabis, McKelvie replied "not that I can remember".

"But you don't know of course. We did a lot of things around university."

Whanganui MP Steph Lewis said the results of both of the referendums reflected the conversations she had with voters over the course of the election.

"People can see the pros and cons either way but really felt the weight of the decision," she said.

Lewis admitted for the first time publicly that she voted in favour of both referendums after spending the campaign listening to voters attempting to make up her mind.

On euthanasia, Lewis believed that while not wanting to take away from people who work in palliative care, it was not her place to make decisions for people with terminal illnesses.

"For me to tell somebody else how much pain or suffering they have to endure feels wrong. It is not for me to tell someone how much they should endure," she said.

On cannabis, Lewis said she that while she had never smoked the substance herself, she formed the basis of her decision on the response of voters she had talked to.

"I took the conversations I had on the campaign and that formed my decision. It does give me comfort that people like Chester Borrows, who has worked in law enforcement, worked in the courts and was a long serving MP did support the referendum. In the end I did vote yes."

While End of Life Choice Act shows a resounding result, Lewis believes it is too early to call the result on the cannabis referendum.

"I think it's probably too soon to call the cannabis referendum. 46 per cent with 500,000 special votes still to be counted is close. If a large number of people enrolled on the day to vote in favour, I think it might get that one across the line."

Whanganui MP Steph Lewis

A supporter of cannabis legalisation and regulation, Borrows last term worked on leading the Government's justice sector reform and said he was disappointed with the result.

"I think the problem with any sort of referendum, especially one that requires some insight into the issue, is that anyone can vote on feelings and emotion and override those people who have done a lot of research," he said.

"These decisions take the temperature of public sentiment, but they are in no way factual or authentic when it comes to the real cause and effect behind the use of cannabis."

On the End of Life Choice Act, Borrows said he voted against the bill, citing his belief in the "sanctity of life".

"People cannot separate suicide statistics from euthanasia, because largely it's people exercising choice over their end of life," he said.

"I think it sends a huge mixed message to New Zealand that we consider every suicide a tragedy, but in some cases think it's okay."

The referendum on the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill had 46.1 per cent of voters in favour. Photo / 123RF

Former Whanganui mayor Michael Laws, who was one of the first MPs to champion end of life choice and introduced the Death with Dignity Bill - which failed to receive the support of the house - in 1995, said that the overwhelming public support for the End of Life Choice Act was a cause for celebration.

"Today we celebrate the public of New Zealand having their definitive say upon the greatest moral issue of our times.

"This has been a long, long, long journey. Too long to achieve what I consider to be a very basic human right that has been denied to us and New Zealanders for far too long."