Boscawen John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Boscawen John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:651;Page:721] 
9.  
JOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT) 
 to the  
Minister of Justice 
: On what date is the Government planning to repeal the Electoral Finance Act and introduce new electoral law? 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 As part of its first 100 days’ commitment the Government intends to repeal— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Fight them on the beaches. 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: Well that member should go back to his seat. Oh that is right he does not have one. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: We have lost a fair bit of time today with unnecessary interjections and I am sure that members of the House would like to see a little more decorum. 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: As part of its first 100 days’ commitment the Government intends to repeal the Electoral Finance Act 2007 and replace it with an interim regime by 26 February 2009. The precise date is yet to be determined and it will depend on the cooperation of other parties in the House which I hope will be forthcoming. 
John Boscawen 
: Does the Minister support free speech; if so does he agree that political parties should have the right to purchase their own broadcasting time outside taxpayer-funded allocations? 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: By and large yes. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Can the Minister advise whether the ACT Party has requested that the repeal bill contains a retrospective provision to annul the ACT Party supporter’s complaint about the  
Hi-de-Hi! 
 jacket which has caused the Hon Rodney Hide to be embarrassed and has led him to concede that the public had a right to be furious about what was nothing more than a stunt? 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: I can advise the member that I have no knowledge of such a request. 
Hon Rodney Hide 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. There is a requirement under the Standing Orders that questions are to be factually accurate. I was furious but I was not furious with the supporter of the ACT Party—I love them all. I was furious about that crazy law that Lianne Dalziel and the Green Party passed. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: What the member has raised is not actually a point of order. However what he might have raised was that the Hon Lianne Dalziel’s question was not in order because the Standing Orders do not provide for that kind of information to be put in a supplementary question where it is bringing into question what other members may or may not have said. If the member wants to check the Standing Orders then I am sure she will find that ruling. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: I seek leave to table the article from the  
New Zealand Herald  
on 4 December that quoted the honourable member. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Could I just make it clear to honourable members that I ruled not because the member raised the issue; it was the manner in which she raised it. If the member wishes to check the Standing Orders in respect of questions she will see that it spells out what they are allowed to contain and what they are not allowed to contain and she will see that that kind of reference to material is out of order. 
Hon Phil Goff 
: Did the Minister’s earlier answer to Mr Boscawen imply that he is contemplating amending the Broadcasting Act to allow wealthy vested interests to spend as much as they like during an election campaign; or if that is not what he was implying then what was he trying to say? 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: I say to Mr Goff that I was referring to the first part of the question which was “Does the Minister support free speech”. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Members should show respect to other members in the House. 
Chester Borrows 
: What reports has the Minister seen regarding the potential cross-party support for reform of electoral laws? 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: I have been sufficiently encouraged by statements made by the Leader of the Opposition since the election that suggest there is now a willingness to participate in a bipartisan approach to the reform of electoral administration. Because cross-party consensus has historically been the hallmark of electoral reform in New Zealand the Government believes this path is most likely to lead to enduring legislative frameworks. 
John Boscawen 
: Does the Minister think it fair and reasonable that at the last election ACT was restricted to $100000 while the taxpayer contributed around $1 million to each of Labour and National’s broadcasting spend; if so would he consider allowing smaller political parties like ACT to spend their own money at least to match the two big old parties? 
Hon SIMON POWER 
: I am sure that all issues of fairness and matters relating to parties of all sizes both those represented presently and those represented potentially in this House in the future will be taken into consideration and factored into an enduring legislative framework solution which we all hope all parties will participate in.