And when they came for me, there was no-one to cry out.
Today is the last day for public submissions on the Electoral Finance Bill.
This is the Bill that creates a licensing regime for political speech.
This is the Bill that says if what you say is about any issue that a politician or party has become associated with, it's not just you having your say as a citizen. It's an election advertisement.
This is the Bill that says that no person or organisation can spend more than $60,000 total on making its views known in an election year. Since elections are usually held in November, that means eleven months out of every three years.
This is the Bill that says if you want to spend more than $5,000 during an election year you have to register as a "third party". You cannot so register once the election writ has been issued. That means if a politician unexpectedly attacks you during the election campaign, you effectively cannot respond.
This is the Bill that says even if you don't intend to spend more than $5,000, you still have to register and provide a statutory declaration if you want to say anything at all.
This is the Bill that says if your organisation wants to spend more than $100 a week on political issues, it has to register with the Government and declare all non-trivial sources of income.
This is the Bill that does not prevent massive anonymous donations to political parties - which was ostensibly the whole point.
If you care about any of the above, today is your last chance to make your views known. You can make an online submission to the Select Committee here. This is the big one, the one that matters. It's no exaggeration to say if you don't stand up this time, you may not be able to next time. The purpose of electoral finance law is not to ensure that no-one can contradict the Government. Tell them so.
If you want to read an analysis written by actual legal experts, a partner and a solicitor from Bell Gully wrote one for New Zealand Lawyer. You can read it here. (.pdf format). It's only a page and a half.
I ask the Justice and Electoral Select Committee to reject the Electoral Finance Bill and recommend to the House that it does not proceed.
New Zealand has a tradition of free political discourse in which anyone may participate. The Bill imposes drastic and draconian limits on this freedom. Such a change should only come after a lengthy public policy process and considerable opportunity for public debate on all sides. No such process has been undertaken.
I can appreciate that this or any incumbent Government has a strong interest in being the only organisation permitted unfettered public speech during the eleven months preceding a general election. However, that is not what electoral law is for.
I do not propose to list any of the myriad specific problems with the Bill, as to do so would suggest that the Bill only requires amendment. Rather, I would submit that the Bill as a whole is flawed and misguided. The problem is not the specific details of the restrictions on the ability of New Zealanders to comment publicly on political issues during the time period when such ability is most needed and valuable. The problem is that the government is imposing these restrictions at all, and that it is doing so in a hurried manner with little to no consultation or opportunity for debate.
As with any proposed law, it is important to consider the problem that the Bill is intended to solve, and to consider:
a) whether the Bill solves the problem at all;
b) whether there are better ways to solve it;
c) whether the “solution” is worse than the problem.
When the proposed law deals with something as fundamental to our freedom as electoral law, it is even more important that these issues be considered at length, in public, and by everyone. This is not something to be rushed. The matter is important, but not urgent.
I therefore submit that the Select Committee should reject the Bill in its entirety.
UPDATE - Prompted by something theunshaven said, may I remind submission-writers of these words of wisdom from Mitchell Royce, two-fisted editor: "Printable words, Spider. I still remember that essay you wrote when the Beast got elected. I do not want to see the word "Fuck" typed eight thousand times again."