Bell Gully slays the Electoral Finance Bill

Belly Gully partner Roger Partridge and solicitor Jesse Wilson have published a stunningly good article in NZ Lawyer on the Electoral Finance Bill.

A pdf scan of the article is here –doc030907.pdf. Definitely read the whole thing, but here are some extracts or summaries:

• The EFB imposes constraints on political advocacy that are  arguably unparalleled in modern NZ history
•  Raises the issues that as one can not register as a third party once an election writ has been served, any person or organisation attacked by a party during a campaign will be banned from fighting back.
• The EFB curtails opportunities for citizens to express their ideas on matters of public importance in an election year, when it matters most
• A key part – “No evidence of the harm said to be caused by third-party advocacy has been provided to justify these heavy-handed proposals”
• “It’s conceptual premise is fundamentally inconsistent with the principle that citizens do not require prior authorisation to to express their views about the Government on political issues of the day
• “The Bill effectively creates a licensing regime for political speech”
• “The Bill rations the amount of political speech by third parties in election year” and “the rations are meagre”
• “The fact that advocacy may persuade the electorate is hardly a reason to suppress it”
• “Far from being a corrupt practice, persuasion through speech is the lifeblood of the democratic society and the hallmark of civilised society
• “The suggestion that free speech can “unduly influence” voters is misconceived. The foundation of the democratic system is that voters should be free to judge for themselves which ideas have merit
• “If a group of private citizens consider the registered parties have failed to give due attention to an issue, and they wish to introduce their own ideas into the political discourse, this should not be constrained is the purpose of the Bill is to promote public participation in the electoral process”

A truly excellent article.  The part that stands out for me is:

“The fact that advocacy may persuade the electorate is hardly a reason to suppress it”

Indeed.