The Electoral Finance Act 2007 was a controversial
[
] act in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. The
Fifth Labour Government
The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 10 December 1999 to 19 November 2008. Labour Party leader Helen Clark negotiated a coalition with Jim Anderton, leader of the Alliance Party. While undertaking ...
introduced the Electoral Finance Bill partly in response to the
2005 New Zealand election funding controversy, in particular to "third-party" campaigns.
The proponents of the bill generally held that such a law was required to prevent wealthy private parties from "buying elections" anonymously via advertising campaigns or other financially costly lobbying, while opponents considered it a serious restriction of
civil liberties, and further regarded spending private money on political campaigning as a
democratic right.
Effect
The Act amended numerous areas of New Zealand electoral law, but was repealed on 17 February 2009. Principally and most controversially it regulated "third party" election campaigns
Third party campaigns
The Act made it illegal for anyone to spend more than NZ$12,000 criticising or supporting a political party or taking a position on any political matter, or more than NZ$1,000 criticising or supporting an individual member of parliament, without first registering with a state agency, the Electoral Commission.
The Bill as introduced required that unregistered third parties file statutory declarations before publishing election advertisements.
The Bill originally limited the spending of registered third parties on political advertising to $60,000,
but this was later increased to $120,000 by the Select Committee.
The regulation of third parties also extends to their finances. The Act requires that third parties disclose all donations they receive over $5000. Anonymous donations that third parties receive over this level must be given to the State.
Regulated period
The Act extends the "regulated period" for election campaigning from the previous 90-day period to the period starting on 1 January of election year – from three months to around ten, depending on the timing of the election. During this period electoral advertising by candidates, political parties and third parties must follow election rules, and spending limits apply.
Controversy
The
Coalition for Open Government, a group that advocates the reform of election finance law in New Zealand, opposed parts of the Bill, particularly the failure of the Bill to ban secret donations to political parties, given the strong financial disclosure requirements placed on third parties.
The broad definition of "election advertisement" came in for particular criticism. Critics, including the
New Zealand Law Society
The New Zealand Law Society ( mi, Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa) is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand. Membership of the society is voluntary, ...
, Catholic charity
Caritas, and the Royal New Zealand Forest and Bird Society argued the definition will catch not just electoral speech, but almost all political speech – including things like placards at protest marches.
The parliamentary opposition, the
National Party, also opposed the Bill. Political commentator Matthew Hooton argued that the Bill should not proceed, and that the
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
was a "danger to democracy".
On 6 October 2007 the Free Speech Coalition was formed by prominent right-wing bloggers
David Farrar and
Cameron Slater
Cameron Slater is a right-wing New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in ''Dirty Politics'' and publishing the ''Whale Oil Beef Hooked'' blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. He edited the tabloid newspaper '' New Z ...
, and
Bernard Darnton, leader of the
Libertarianz Party, to oppose the Bill.
The
New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society and
NORML New Zealand, and the
Direct Democracy Party of New Zealand also opposed the Bill.
Criticism has also been made over the process that led to the Bill's introduction, which involved discussions only with the Labour Government's supporting parties and not the Opposition.
Political commentator
Chris Trotter had harsh criticism of the detractors of the Act in several opinion pieces in ''
The Dominion Post''. On 17 August he wrote
: "let's just take a deep breath and examine the rules that govern election spending in Britain and Canada (countries which, the last time I looked, were still counted among the world's leading democracies). In Britain, "third party" expenditure is capped at 5 per cent of the expenditure authorised for political parties in the 12 months prior to polling day.
: In Canada the figure is 1 per cent, but applies only to the period of official campaigning. (Mr Burton is proposing a cap of 2.5 per cent or $60,000 for 10 months.) In both Britain and Canada, third parties are required to register with the official electoral regulators; both countries also restrict the contributions of foreign donors to third parties; and both require the identity of third party donors to be made public. That is how modern democracies conduct themselves.
: But, in New Zealand, it is still acceptable (at least to the National Party) for those with the most money to have the most say."
Protests
On 17 November 2007 a protest in Auckland against the Bill, organised by
John Boscawen
John Spencer Boscawen (born c.1957) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the ACT New Zealand Party and served as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2008 to 2011.
Boscawen briefly served as deputy leader ...
, drew over 2,000 protestors. A second Auckland protest, on 1 December 2007, drew a crowd of around 5,000. Smaller protests were held in Wellington and Christchurch.
Parliamentary process
Introduction
The Bill was introduced on 23 July 2007 by
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Mark Burton, who said at its introduction "The package of reforms introduced to Parliament will help promote participation in parliamentary democracy, and aims to clean up New Zealand's electoral system and protect it from abuse."
Bill of Rights
Under section 7 of the
New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (sometimes known by its acronym, NZBORA or simply BORA) is a statute of the Parliament of New Zealand part of New Zealand's uncodified constitution that sets out the rights and fundamental freedoms of an ...
, the
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
must advise Parliament at the introduction of a bill if that bill is inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The
Crown Law Office, which undertook the review, concluded that the Bill was consistent with the Bill of Rights.
The
National Business Review described Crown Law's opinion as "...one of the worst, most politically expedient calls on New Zealand human rights legislation in memory."
First reading
The Bill passed its first reading on 27 July by 65 votes to 54, with the
Labour,
Greens,
NZ First,
United Future
United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017).
U ...
and
Progressive voting in favour, and the
National Party,
Māori Party
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
and independents
Gordon Copeland and
Taito Phillip Field
Taito Phillip Hans Field (26 September 1952 – 23 September 2021) was a Samoan-born New Zealand trade unionist and politician. A Member of Parliament (MP) for South Auckland electorates from 1993 to 2008, Field was the first New Zealand MP of ...
voting against.
ACT did not vote. The legislation was sent to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration, with agreement from MPs to extend the membership of the committee for consideration of the Bill to include members from almost all Parliamentary parties. The committee's report on the Bill was due by 25 January 2008.
Select Committee
Public submissions on the Bill closed on 7 September 2007.
Radio New Zealand reported on 31 August that the Government had indicated it might write to the Committee indicating that it intended to make unspecified changes to the parts of the legislation dealing with third parties. This would have prevented the committee from hearing criticism of the existing provisions and allow the Government to introduce changes during the Committee of the Whole House without the public being able to make submissions on the new provisions.
Then Prime Minister
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
denied this.
Investigative journalist
Nicky Hager
Nicky Hager (born 1958) is a New Zealand investigative journalist. He has produced seven books since 1996, covering topics such as intelligence networks, environmental issues and politics. He is one of two New Zealand members of the Internationa ...
, author of
The Hollow Men
"The Hollow Men" (1925) is a poem by the modernist writer T. S. Eliot. Like much of his work, its themes are overlapping and fragmentary, concerned with post–World War I Europe under the Treaty of Versailles (which Eliot despised: compare " ...
, submitted in favour of the need for changes to New Zealand electoral law.
The
New Zealand Law Society
The New Zealand Law Society ( mi, Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa) is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand. Membership of the society is voluntary, ...
,
and the
New Zealand Human Rights Commission
The Human Rights Commission (Māori: ''Te Kāhui Tika Tangata'') is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for New Zealand. It operates as an independent Crown entity, and is independent from direction by the Cabinet.
Legislation and func ...
submitted against the Bill.
The
Select committee reported the Bill to the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
on 18 November 2007, and recommended that the Bill proceed.
Annette King
Dame Annette Faye King (née Robinson, born 13 September 1947) is a former New Zealand politician. She served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011, and from 2014 until 1 March 20 ...
, who became Minister of Justice following a Cabinet reshuffle on 31 October 2007,
announced a number of changes to the Bill.
These changes included:
* Increasing the cap on total third party spending from $60,000 to $120,000;
* Increasing the cap on election advertising before they have to register under the new law from $5,000 to $12,000;
* Changing the definition of election advertising;
* Increasing the corruption penalties to $100,000 fine.
Second reading
The Bill was put to a second reading vote on 22 November 2007.
It passed by 65 votes to 54, with Labour, New Zealand First, the Greens, United Future, and the Progressive Party supporting it. National, ACT, the Māori Party, and independents Gordon Copeland and Taito Phillip Field voted against it, the Māori party voting two of its four votes in favour.
Committee of the whole House
The Committee of the whole House stage began on 3 December 2007.
Third reading
The Bill passed its third reading on 18 December 2007 by 63 votes to 57, with the National Party, the Maori Party, ACT, United Future and independent MP Taito Phillip Field voting against and Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First and Progressive voting for.
Independent MP Gordon Copeland did not vote.
Royal Assent and eventual repeal
The
Governor-General signed the Act into law on 19 December 2007.
The Electoral Finance Act was repealed on 17 February 2009 by a vote in Parliament of 112 to 9. The Green Party was the only Party opposing the repeal, saying it should stay in force until a replacement Bill was prepared. National Party Justice Minister
Simon Power said during debate on the repeal bill that all parties in Parliament had agreed to take part in consultations to draft replacement electoral law.
Parliament eventually passed the Electoral (Finance Reform and Advance Voting) Amendment Bill 116–5 ahead of the
2011 general election. The new law set the regulated period for election advertising as beginning two years and nine months after the previous election, banned the use of Parliamentary Service funding for electoral purposes, and increased spending and donation caps.
See also
*
2005 New Zealand election funding controversy
*
Campaign finance reform
*
Constitution of New Zealand
The constitution of New Zealand is the sum of laws and principles that determine the political governance of New Zealand. Unlike many other nations, New Zealand has no single constitutional document. It is an uncodified constitution, sometimes r ...
*
Electoral system of New Zealand
The New Zealand electoral system has been mixed-member proportional (MMP) since the 1996 election. MMP was introduced following a referendum in 1993. It replaced the first-past-the-post (FPP) system New Zealand had previously used for most of i ...
External links
New Zealand Parliament – Text of the Electoral Finance BillKnowledge Basket – Clause by clause analysis of the Bill; Full text of the BillCoalition for Open Government- supports Electoral Finance BillKill the Bill Campaign- opposes Electoral Finance Bill
Bibliography
* Geddis, Andrew (2007). ''Electoral Law in New Zealand: Practice and Policy''. Wellington: Lexis-Nexis.
*
Hager, Nicky (2006). ''
The Hollow Men: A Study in the Politics of Deception''. Nelson: Craig Potton.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Statutes of New Zealand
2007 in New Zealand law
Election legislation
Repealed New Zealand legislation