EFA strikes again
As not everyone in the room was a party member, it was noticeable that most of the powerpoint presentations had authorisation statements on them, and even the walk in video for John Key finished with an authorisation statement showing some poor bloke’s home address.
Amusingly the placards of the half dozen protesters lacked authorisation statements 
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Tags: Electoral Finance Act, National
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
haha I’d like to see the police actually act on this, when they see people drinking or smoking illicit substances on the street they act… whats the difference?
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I do hope the Nats choose to take the opportunity during the campaign to use authorisation statements in a way that completely takes the piss out of the EFA.
That would both annoy Hulun and amuse voters at the same time. And Hulun couldn’t say a thing about it.
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
David, did any national members leave the building and bludgeon a protester or two with a megaphone?
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Barnsley
They must have whacked the shit out of the Sonny Thomas fella, have you seen his face?
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I believe that damage is due to the fact that he has hit more balls with his chin than federers favourite racket.
Sorry David, Demerit away if you wish but I have been saving that one for a while and big bruv teed it up perfectly…
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
How many ACT protesters were outside?
August 3rd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
The “handbills” (fake $100 notes) apparently put under nearby windshield wipers and handed out by the Labour demonstrators in support of the EFA also breached the law they were supporting, by omitting authorisation.
I would not complain. As long as they keep defending that indefensible they’re working for us.
Of course if someone else was looking for fun, a complaint might provide some.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Perhaps the Nats could run a campaign entirely of authorisation statements?
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Kiwibank, ACC, MMP
what else is National going to sell down the river to the highest bidder.
What’s indefensible Stephen is the absolute hypocrisy of National in supposedly giving people “choice” when it comes to their voting system. MMP has bought about proportionality, and without it the likes of ACT would never have happened.
This so called “choice” as we all know is a front. There will be no greater harm to democracy if and when we are told we need to choose our voting system. The neo-Shirtcliffs et al will be out in force and there will be nothing resembling a fair fight. What greater dammage to democracy could there be but by taking the people’s reflections (proportionality) out of parliament.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Not so amusingly nothing will be done by the EC about these fuckers. And since the EFA has the potential to tie up the election result in the courts for months unless National a) wipe the floor with the rest or b) John Key returns my calls about the mercenary army and 200 T72 tanks in my garage, what we see as inconsequential now could turn into a major clusterfuck for our democracy (as if it hasn’t already).
Paul – you need serious psychological help, but I see the spelling is coming along nicely. Good boy.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Paul
Why is it indefensible to give people choice in their electoral system?
When National last put the question to the public in the 19990′s and they chose MMP, was that indefensible?
Or is MMP sacred merely by virtue of being the status quo?
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Paul
You seem to miss the point here, in that the only reason the present Government is surviving is because Winston Peters holds the keys, I do appreciate your point about proportionality however MMP is now proving to be an electoral system whereby a minor party is holding the major party to ransom.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
There has been no holding to ransom of anyone. Under MMP the country has seen greater economic growth than under the comparable time frame pre MMP with that joke of FPP.
“Why is it indefensible to give people choice in their electoral system” Simply because if anyone believes that there won’t be a massive disinformation campaign a-la Peter Shirtcliff et al against MMP, then you live on another planet.
Every day the great unwashed are told time and time again by those evil bastards running talk back radio (you know the ones who perpetuate the myths that the country is stuffed and all politicians are evil), that MMP is wrong and that the likes of Bradford etc are only there because of MMP, not on merit.
If and this is the biggest IF on the face of the earth, the public were given the simple facts about MMP and FPP and shown the merits and brickbats about both without bias then that would be a fair choice. But MMP is doomed from the off because the powers that be will never accept a system that allows parliament to be descriptive of the people rather than prescriptive of the power elite.
Ah Peters, now there’s a Politician. Will sleep with whomever is paying his bills. He’ll even sleep with Mr Key if they need him. That is a political reality, not a fault of MMP. How is it then that two elections in a row the people voted Piggy out and yet the system entrenched his power? How is it then that very same system gave us a parliament that was predominately white middle class middle aged males, when we know for a fact that is not the face of NZ.
A voting system that is descriptive of the people is far preferable than one that which is prescriptive of the few.
Don’t start me on choice. I’d love to grow my own weed, drive faster than 100km (i’m a bloody good driver), sleep with under 16 year olds – have you seen my cousin! It would be bloody nice to yell fire in a theatre just to see the reaction, and of course carry a gun, now that’s real choice.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Paul
Your latest post could be paraphrased as
“I believe MMP is superior to any other electoral system. Anyone who disagrees is evil. Therefore the easily-duped public should not be given a choice”.
Pardon me for being unpersuaded.
And before you make too much noise about FPP entrenching ‘white middle class middle aged males’, take a look at the top ten places in cabinet. All white except the Minister for Maori Affairs, just like in the FPP days. At least you can’t call them all middle-aged – not when the third-ranked Minister was born well before the Second World War broke out. But I suspect that wasn’t what you meant.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Paul,
You trust the NZ public with MMP, but you don’t trust them to see through a disinformation campaign?
August 4th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Lefties would rahter give up their testicles than their grip on power Ryan.
Besides hullen has their balls in a jar on her desk already.
August 4th, 2008 at 10:19 am
# reid (989) Add karma Subtract karma +11 Says:
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
“I do hope the Nats choose to take the opportunity during the campaign to use authorisation statements in a way that completely takes the piss out of the EFA.
That would both annoy Hulun and amuse voters at the same time. And Hulun couldn’t say a thing about it.”
Yep, like ACT and the Libertarianz have been doing already………presume you’ve seen them and know what they say? If not, get somebody to post them here, they are BEWDIFUL……..
August 4th, 2008 at 10:54 am
voltaire
I thought we now had a system called LPP, whereby the party with the least votes in the House gets to call the shots. I find it trite that people demand to know what a party’s policies are, when the reality of LPP says that those policies will never get to be legislation if the party gets elected.
We also suffer from a “last election” issue, whereby policies espoused at the last election were appropriate that day, but not binding on this government – otherwise how could the new chief choo choo wallah have bought his train set; there was no policy regarding that in the last election that I remember !
SO there we go, a complete reversal of a system that has stood the test of many centuries, goodbye first past the post, hello last past! Progress is!
August 4th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I loved the authorisation statement that included Crazys home address IMHO the Nats and ACT should do this on all of the their materials to highlight the stupidity of the EFA.
They must ensure the undecided and fringe Socialists and Communists supporters see how dumbarse Labour and the Greens are
August 4th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I prefer the STB voting method to MMP – you arrange all the candidates names in a circle, and spin a bottle (hence the name) of your favourite drink. If the result is not satisfactory, drink the bottle and start again. Repeat until you get the result you want!