新西蘭英語 04 Electoral Finance Act

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Parliament is still discussing the Electoral Finance Bill. This Bill is about how much money political parties and other people can spend on an election.

Last general election, in 2005, there were some problems over spending money to encourage people to vote for different parties. One problem was that most parties, but especially Labour, spent taxpayers’ money when they sent out information about their policies. They had to pay this money back because it was illegal to use taxpayers’ money this way. If they want to advertise their policies, the party has to pay.

Another problem was expensive newspaper advertisements by a religious group telling people to vote for National and pamphlets telling people not to vote for the Greens. These were anonymous advertisements – they did not say who paid for them. They cost more than one million dollars. There were other anonymous donations to political parties.

New Zealanders do not want government to be decided by the party with the most money. This Electoral Finance Bill will limit how much money a party can spend in an election year and how much money other people, like religious groups, can spend to support a party. The limit will be $120,000. Many people are angry about this Bill because they say it will stop free speech for the whole election year. The next general election will be held next year, probably in November, so if the Bill passes, groups will have to be careful about their election spending from January 1st. In the past, election spending was limited for just 3 months before the election.

Some New Zealanders are so upset about the Bill that they have marched in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to protest. Even the Law Society does not support this Bill.

The government wanted this Bill passed a long time ago but opposition parties in Parliament are still asking questions and trying to get the government to stop the Bill. The government has made 150 changes but still opposition parties, like National and ACT, are not happy with it. There are many other Bills for Parliament to pass before the Christmas break so it seems likely that Parliament will have some late nights in the next 2 weeks.