KEY POINTS:
The Green Party has called for the whole issue of election funding and parliamentary spending to be sent to a "Citizens' Assembly" based on a Canadian model so ordinary citizens can make a decision.
Co-leader Russel Norman said the Electoral Finance Bill was a stop-gap measure.
Although the Greens are expected to support the final version of the bill, he believed political parties were the wrong people to make electoral law on their own.
Outside scrutiny was needed because all the parties had some kind of vested interest "and electoral law should be owned by the people".
He said a citizens' assembly had been used for the same thing in Canada.
It could be run by the Electoral Commission. One person would be chosen randomly from each electorate (69 now and 70 next election), then whittled down during a series of weekend workshops to 12 people.
"It's like a citizens' jury. People, when they are given the chance, actually make good decisions. Our whole criminal justice system is based on 12 randomly selected people. We lock people up for life on the basis of 12 randomly selected people exercising their good judgment."
Dr Norman said it was important to strike the right balance on fairness in elections between spending limits and free speech. "I hope we have got closer to getting that right or I hope the select committee does.
"The other part is around anonymous donations and the secret trusts. I am very confident we will make some progress about that as well."
The Green Party was appalled by the Electoral Finance Bill as it was introduced to Parliament by former Justice Minister Mark Burton.
But it voted for it in the hope of getting some improvements in the select committee process on its key issue of political donations.
List MP Metiria Turei is on the select committee for the Greens, a party which has campaigned on civil liberties issues, such as freedom of expression.
Asked why the Greens supported the bill, which is widely agreed to restrict that freedom, Ms Turei said: "I don't believe for a second that the final version is going to be a breach of human rights.
"I agree the first version was appalling and I just can't believe the minister let it through."
Asked why the Greens let it through if it was so bad, she said: "We had to get the bill into select committee to do something about it.
"It needed to be dealt with one way or another. The mistake [Labour] made was letting it get to even the first reading in the state it was in."
Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said in Parliament last night that MPs' spending rules and laws should also be referred to a citizens' assembly.
