Read today'sfront page editorial on the Electoral Finance Bill.
KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister Helen Clark is hanging tough on the Electoral Finance Bill and - despite months of concerns raised about it from a broad cross-section of society - does not believe there is much opposition to it.
She yesterday disputed a suggestion that the bill was detested, and said it addressed the question of money influencing voting results.
"At the end of the day it comes back to 'do you want money politics to distort New Zealand's elections and democracy or do you want the sort of rules that around the world western democracies put in place?"'
She dismissed the 5000-strong protest march in Auckland at the weekend as a "relatively small number of troops".
The bill is due to begin its committee stage debate in Parliament tonight when it will be discussed part by part.
It was prompted by a $1.2 million attack advertising campaign last election against Labour and the Greens by members of the Exclusive Brethren Church.
The bill imposes new limits on non-parliamentary advocates and extends the regulated period to virtually a whole year.
Amendments were recommended by the justice and electoral select committee, but in the committee stage any MP can propose an amendment.
Helen Clark said yesterday that new Justice Minister Annette King was putting a lot of time into the bill.
But she gave no indication that there would be substantial amendments beyond those already signalled by the select committee or Ms King.
National deputy leader Bill English said his party would propose several dozen "substantive amendments" but he would not use filibustering tactics to stall the bill's passage.
He said the party would try to make the bill "more workable to avoid a shambles next year".
"The public will be irritated if the politicians spend all their time arguing over the rules rather than getting on with the issues that affect people."
He said National's amendments would make the bill vaguely workable "without compromising our position of chucking it out when we become the Government".
Among them would be:
* A shorter regulated period
* Applying the same rules to MPs as other candidates
* A narrower definition of political advertisements
* A refined definition of publication so it does not include shouting across the street.
Helen Clark questioned whether the campaigners against the bill, principally Act activist John Boscawen, had got his money's worth after a telephone blitz of Auckland last week about the bill and the march.
He has spent more than $120,000 campaigning against the bill.
Most newspapers have editorialised against it and the select committee received more than 500 submission, most opposed.
LOOKING AT THE OPTIONS
Under the bill
* Regulated political speech starts from January 1.
* Non-political advocates regulated.
* Political advertising, whether paid or unpaid is regulated.
* Law gives MPs and the Government an advantage over opponents.
Axe the bill, and:
* Electoral act remains temporarily, with a three-month regulation period.
* All party donations disclosed three days before the election.
* All parliamentary taxpayer advertising is publicly shown on Parliament's website.
* Breaches of electoral law - e.g. prosecutions over Labour's pledge card, National's GST - are policed.
* Commission or citizens' inquiry held into election funding.
* Cross-party select committee inquiry contributes to larger inquiry.
