KEY POINTS:
The Electoral Finance Act may already have been passed into law, but that didn't stop people taking part in a protest march against it yesterday.
They carried banners and placards proclaiming "democracy under threat" and "bound and gagged like Benson-Pope", and some had duct tape over their mouths for the silent protest.
But Prime Minister Helen Clark dismissed yesterday's march, saying: "The problem with a silent march is no one hears it."
March co-organiser Jim Bagnall estimated about 500 people marched from the Auckland Town Hall to QE Square at the bottom of Queen St where Auckland University law lecturer Bill Hodge spoke.
"Essentially what the act will deny voters is the freedom to be informed, so that they vote intelligently," Dr Hodge told the protesters.
"The law is just bad legislation, and I feel Dr [Michael] Cullen has failed in his role as Attorney-General and should not continue in that office."
Dr Hodge, a constitutional law expert who had not participated in any protests in Queen St since 1977, said he felt compelled to this time because he didn't want New Zealand to have elections that were won in court rather than the ballot box - like American President George W. Bush did in his victory over Al Gore in 2000.
Protester Ramesh Kunagaran, an immigrant from Malaysia, said waking up to the news that the Malaysian Government had had its worst result since independence at the country's general elections last Saturday made him come to the march.
"I am a Labour supporter and I am worried that if they do not repeal this law, it could be the single issue that would bring them down," he said.
"I come from a country where free speech and even the media are controlled, and I don't want the same thing to happen in my new country - and from the Malaysian election results, I hope Labour can see that gagging is not the way to win elections."
Peter Jenkins, representing the Sensible Sentencing Trust, said his group was calling for the act to be repealed because there was a "real worry" that it would "compromise the way we can represent victims".
The protest march was organiser John Boscawen's fifth against the legislation, but his first since it took effect on January 1.
"Free speech is an issue that concerns all New Zealanders and the Electoral Finance Act is a profound betrayal of trust by the people whom we have voted to represent us," he said. "I intend to continue protesting throughout this year until such time as the act is repealed."
