Harawira Hone: Electoral Finance Bill — Second Reading 
Harawira Hone: Electoral Finance Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:643;Page:13401] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Kia ora tatou e te Whare. I come to this debate as the representative of the Maori Party which is neither a coalition partner an associate of this Government nor in the pocket of the National Party so it is probably the only truly independent voice in this debate. 
Over the last couple of months we have seen all kinds of groups and individuals opposing the Electoral Finance Bill and interpreting it as “almost impossible” very difficult messy and expensive and overly complex. Yet here we are today discussing a bill that leading justice agencies still have major reservations about. 
As we reviewed the select committee report I was reminded of a comment in  
Te Putatara 
 a column by Ross Himona which described the National and Labour “two-party power culture” as having created a sham democracy around the bastion of privilege called Parliament; an illusion of representative government. He said: “In the coming election campaign they will argue that one has more ‘integrity’ than the other. They will argue that one is more ‘competent’ than the other. They will argue about the ‘decent society’ that they claim to represent. They will argue about who cares most for the ‘people’. None of that matters. They are but two halves of the same dragon; there is no difference between the parties.” 
Himona said his analysis is of a Parliament ruled by an unwritten constitution and the myth of parliamentary sovereignty which dominates the control of information that ordinary citizens receive. He concluded: “It has been able to keep most of the country in ignorance about the parlous state of democracy in New Zealand and it has been able to keep most of the country in ignorance as it dipped into the coffers and delivered power and wealth to the favoured few.” 
Ross Himona’s analysis was written way back in 1990 some 17 years before this bill even came up but in many respects  
Te Putatara 
 could be put alongside the views of the Human Rights Commission the Electoral Commission the Law Society and many of the other 575 public submissions on this bill that called for accountability transparency and integrity in the laws around electoral financing. It is a position very much supported by the Maori Party because we firmly believe after examining the rules governing election campaign expenditure and the sources of campaign finance that maintaining integrity and honesty is essential to the whole process. 
The Maori Party supports Government driven by participation discussion and debate; the Maori Party supports treating public moneys with respect; the Maori Party supports the right of the electorate to be informed; and the Maori Party supports elections conducted in an environment of transparency. They are principles that we have supported right through this debate; principles encapsulated in an address by Professor Whatarangi Winiata at the symposium on political party and election campaign funding held in June this year when he described the pursuit of tikanga such as accountability transparency and integrity as giving expression to the principles of rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga. 
We welcome the tightening of rules around political donations particularly the rules on anonymous donations to ensure that financial power does not determine electoral success. We understand the thinking behind clear recording and reporting procedures for donations but there is a big difference between supporting the general principle and supporting this bill. When the Electoral Commission says that the clause differentiating between election expenses and daily MP duties is almost impossible to interpret then the House has a real problem. The boss of the Electoral Commission suggested that this clause would make it almost impossible to interpret parts of the bill and she was not the only one. 
The Law Society also described the sheer complexity of the law as one of its major flaws referring in particular to the new part of the bill which takes over five pages to describe the rules around anonymous donations. It is a complexity that descends into outright absurdity when we find that if someone brings 300 koura to a hui those juicy crayfish might actually have to be sent to the Electoral Commission to get stamped before being sent back to the hui. And before anyone tries to tell me that the limit applies only to political events believe me when I say that any hui for Maori is a political hui. The bill also adds a special level of regulation requiring third parties to disclose election-specific donations for amounts over $5000 but the Human Rights Commission was particularly concerned at the way in which third parties might be fined for not complying with the requirement to register. 
The Maori Party is concerned that the new definition of election advertising to cover the whole last year in a 3-year election cycle is so wide that it is likely to catch any comment made during election year. The Maori Party is concerned that the new definition of election advertising will effectively curtail freedom of expression in Aotearoa in that year and the Maori Party is concerned that this bill may gag anyone not registered as a third party with the threat of conviction if they dare to speak out—a huge concern for Maori who consider that they have the right to speak out wherever and whenever they feel like it. 
The Maori Party supports the suggestion of the Law Society for there to be wider discussion on electoral reform. The Maori Party supports the submission of the Human Rights Commission that this whole issue should have been given back to the public for full discussion and wider debate. The Maori Party supports the advice from the Electoral Commission that clarity and public ownership are needed to prevent any further loss of public confidence in the election campaign process. The Maori Party supports the right of the public to be able to determine the way in which our Governments are chosen. And the Maori Party supports the call for a publicly appointed independent body to be set up to oversee such a process. 
Electoral finance laws should not be designed and determined by politicians and parties in isolation of the people; nor should they be designed and determined by the coalition of parties that make up only the majority party and its associates. No Government should ever be so arrogant as to make changes to the way in which we elect our representatives without first taking such an important principle to the people for discussion. 
As the independent Maori voice in Parliament the Maori Party shares the concern of the Human Rights Commission which is hardly a doyen of the wealthy elite that this bill is a dramatic assault on fundamental human rights—freedom of expression and the right to participate in the election process. The Maori Party will not be party to a bill that restricts freedom of speech whatever the financial argument and we will not be party to a bill that penalises people for daring to speak freely. Hoi na no tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa.