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The Government is urging suspicious opposition parties to wait for new election laws to be introduced to Parliament before criticising the legislation.
Ministers have spent months drafting the bill, a result of the election funding fiasco that followed the 2005 election and the controversial pamphlet campaign carried out by the Exclusive Brethren.
National's deputy leader Bill English said yesterday the Government had been unwilling to consult his party while the bill was being worked on and he believed it would contain "self-serving changes".
He suggested the legislation would be designed to "clear out the competition" in Labour's favour, allowing it to use government-funded advertising in election year.
The Government has been talking to minor parties, and Mr English said it had been buying support for the bill by promising them more control over the way television time is allocated for campaign advertisements.
Justice Minister Mark Burton, who is in charge of the bill, told Mr English to wait and see the bill before commenting on it.
He said it would be introduced "soon" and he was confident it would pass its first reading and go to a select committee where the public would have a say on it.
"These are issues that need proper public engagement and that's what will happen," he said.
The bill is expected to include changes that lower the amount that can be given to parties anonymously, end the use of trusts to hide the identity of donors, and put a strict cap on the money that can be spent by third parties during campaigns.
- NZPA
