English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:643;Page:13275] 
1. Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Leader—National) 
 to the  
Minister of Justice 
: Is it Government policy that a newspaper editorial which in an election year encourages voters to vote or not to vote for a political party should be considered an election advertisement; if not why not? 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 No it is not Government policy; Labour strongly supports the freedom of the media. 
Hon Bill English 
: Why then did the Minister say yesterday that a newspaper should register as a third party if it wants to say “Vote National.”? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: If a newspaper wanted to register as a third party I suppose it could but I was making the point that it does not need to. It is exempt. 
R Doug Woolerton 
: Can the Minister please inform us what instigated the rewrite of part of the Electoral Act currently called the Electoral Finance Bill? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The rewrite was instigated by the activities of some unknown unnamed people who would not have been exposed if it had not been for the Green Party and others who identified the Exclusive Brethren as working to elect a National Government by using one million dollars that was to be unaccounted for. New Zealanders were outraged at that behaviour of the National Party and the Exclusive Brethren and this Parliament has decided that that should not continue. 
Heather Roy 
: Does the Minister agree with the statement in the commentary on the bill: “The news media play an important role in any democracy and we consider unnecessary restriction on news publications to be undesirable.”; if so does this give the Greens carte blanche to comment on anything in their newspaper the  
Green Times 
 and how will she stop the Exclusive Brethren from buying an existing newspaper and filling it with the same editorial content as their pamphlets contained? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The Exclusive Brethren could certainly buy a newspaper. They may well even already own a newspaper in New Zealand. [ 
Interruption 
] Oh so the National Party knows that they do? So the Exclusive Brethren and the National Party do own a newspaper? Well I suppose in that case— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: We are not having today what we had yesterday when it was impossible to hear. I will be asking members to leave the Chamber. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Any newspaper published in New Zealand that has a circulation to the public is exempt under this bill. Newspapers are able to write publish and have editorials and political content as long as they are publications for the public. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister aware that under clause 5(2)(c) of the Electoral Finance Bill newspaper content is exempted from the definition of an election advertisement only if it is “solely for the purpose of informing enlightening or entertaining readers”; so what does she think of the editorial in the  
Dominion Post  
this morning that states: “If voters remember that when they go to the polls next year Labour and its friends will get no more than they deserve.” and is that not going much further than just informing or entertaining readers but actually encouraging them not to vote for Labour so it would count as an election advertisement? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Absolutely not. Editors have every right under this bill to write editorials like that. They are exempt. I have to say if members pick up any newspaper in New Zealand they will find it will inform them entertain them or enlighten them. One might not always agree with what is written but I actually found that editorial this morning amusing. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister now saying that a newspaper editor can say “Don’t vote Labour.” and give all the reasons why one should not and that would be fine but that an individual citizen cannot take out a half-page ad in the same newspaper using exactly the same words without being regulated and restricted by the Electoral Finance Bill; why has she written law that gives the media total freedom in what they can say but means that a whole lot of other people are now heavily restricted in their free speech? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: There is no restriction on free speech in New Zealand. In this bill there is the requirement for those who campaign for a political party or candidate as an individual or organisation to be open and transparent about doing that. That is what New Zealanders want. In this bill the Justice and Electoral Committee made it clear that it wanted to ensure that our news media have freedom of speech. This clause was written by the select committee to ensure that they have freedom of speech and that they can enlighten entertain and inform people. They are not muzzled by this bill. 
Heather Roy 
: In light of that answer does the Minister stand by her statement yesterday that there ought to be a fair open and transparent approach to this bill; if so what is fair open or transparent about it being legal for a citizen to write a letter to the editor under a pen-name urging the public to vote against this Labour Government but illegal to write exactly the same thing as a comment on an Internet forum? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: A person writing a letter to the editor is able to do so without it counting because it must have the authorisation of the editor. It makes it clear then that it is exempt from election advertising. Under this clause people have that exemption because publication of the letter is authorised by the editor. 
Hon Bill English 
: If it is Government policy that there should be no restriction on what newspapers can publish as an editorial then why does the Government not follow common sense and simply amend the Electoral Finance Bill to state that the media are completely exempt rather than include the vague and uncertain provision that states that they are exempted only if the material the media publish is solely—that means only if the Minister is not sure—about entertaining informing and enlightening people; why does she not have just a total broad exemption rather than that set of weasel words? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I say to the member that the only weasel words that we have heard on this bill have come from him. He dances on the head of a pin every day. Why does he do that? Because the National Party is desperate to stop this bill. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Answer the question. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Well I say to the member that he should talk to his fellow member. All he does is to throw insults. When he is losing he becomes personal—personal about the member; personal about the member’s family. That is his track record. But I will say to the member in answer to the question that the select committee wrote this clause in this way because the news media of New Zealand does those things—they enlighten they entertain and they inform people. I ask members to show me—apart from advertisements in newspapers—where newspapers or the media do not do those things. Members will not be able to. 
Hon Bill English 
: If the Government believes that the media should be able to write exactly what they like then why does it not give the media a blanket exemption from the electoral advertising law? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The committee has decided that the definition in the bill is the appropriate one. [ 
Interruption 
] I believe those members over there are all on something. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: We care for democracy. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Hemlock for that member. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: We actually care for democracy. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: That member does not care about democracy. He would not have put out a pamphlet using parliamentary money which tells people to change the Government and to have “nick4nelson” if he did care about it. He has used parliamentary money to do that. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I haven’t broken the rules like that lot did. 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Oh yes you have. We will wait and see. 
Hon Bill English 
: Does the Minister realise that the new clause that she talked about yesterday which stops Government agencies from publishing election advertisements means that next year Television New Zealand will not be allowed to broadcast campaign openings or closings or political advertisements; if so was that the Government’s intention? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The member is absolutely wrong. Clause 5(2) specifically states that any television broadcast news comment or current affairs programme is not an election advertisement. That is the definition in the Broadcasting Act now. It has been in the Broadcasting Act for years and it has carried over into this bill. 
Hon Bill English 
: Has the Minister consulted Television New Zealand’s lawyers who have come to exactly the same conclusion as we have and can she explain to them and to the House what clause 55B means when it states: “The following persons and bodies may not publish or cause or permit to be published any election advertisement: (a) the chief executive … of a department of State or a Crown entity: (b) a department of State: (c) a Crown entity: (d) a State enterprise … or a Crown owned company:”—which Television New Zealand is—or “(e) any other instrument of the Crown.”? 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Whoopsie! 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: No there is no whoopsie. There is a whoopsie from that party’s member because of course broadcasting under the Broadcasting Act enables television to carry out comment news broadcasts advertisements or whatever else it wishes to. Television is exempt under the Broadcasting Act. However I would imagine that if the board of Television New Zealand was to decide to vote for National then there might be a different connotation on it. 
Hon Bill English 
: Does that now mean that clause 55B does not mean what it says and that in fact clause 55B although it does not say this anywhere in this Act can be overruled by other exemptions in other Acts; if that is the case why does the Minister not make it plain in the Electoral Finance Bill that there are Crown entities and Crown-owned companies that are exempt from this law? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: No; and I refer the member to the Broadcasting Act.