Flag of New Zealand majority of 65 percent of votes in Parliament before any future legislation could change the flag. The Bill passed its first reading but was defeated at its second reading, 26 votes to 37. In 1998 Prime Minister Jenny Shipley backed Cultural Affairs Minister Marie Hasler's call for the flag to be changed. Shipley, along with the New Zealand Tourism Board, backed the quasi-national silver fern flag, using a white silver fern on a black background as a possible alternative flag, along the lines of the Canadian Maple Leaf flag. On 5 August 2010 Labour list MP Charles Chauvel introduced a
2015–16 New Zealand flag referendums include the Red Peak flag after an online petition accrued 50,000 signatures. NZ First leader Winston Peters and former National Party official Grant McLachlan said that instead of respectfully incorporating wider public opinion, this inclusion was an ad hoc deference to a trendy but unrepresentative social media campaign. McLachlan demonstrated that online signatures could easily be forged by recording himself signing the petition sixteen times and fraudulently impersonating members of parliament. They accused the campaign of having dubious credibility and chided the government for considering the petition without checking the details sufficiently. If the New Zealand flag changes, which flag