2015–16 New Zealand flag referendums Mallard this shows that the flag change process is suffering from "total spin" and that the panel is pushing to change the flag in breach of its mandate to be neutral. Documents revealed that Flag Consideration Panel judge Julie Christie is a board member of the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) body "New Zealand Story" where she "had formally agreed to support the use of the NZ Way Fern Mark in any flag design". This fern design ended up as one of the shortlist entries. Christie had declared this as a potential conflict of interest but it was dismissed
New Zealand flag debate member's bill for a consultative commission followed by a referendum on the New Zealand flag. In January 2014, Prime Minister John Key floated the idea of a referendum on a new flag at the 2014 general election. The proposal was met with mixed response. Later in March, Key announced that New Zealand would hold a referendum within the next three years asking whether or not to change the flag design should the National party be re-elected for a third term. Following National's re-election the details of the referendum were announced. A two-stage binding referendum was held in 2015 and 2016.