NZ flag petition falls short

The organisers of a petition to change the New Zealand flag have all but abandoned hopes of forcing a referendum on the issue this year.

NZflag.com Trust spokeswoman Jo Coughlan said the campaigners had hoped to collect 300,000 signatures by May but had fewer than 100,000.

She said they were still on track to collect 300,000 by their deadline of the end of December.