We hope you like our billboards.

They are using humour to make a serious point – that the Electoral Finance Act is a step in the wrong direction to a more authoritarian New Zealand as it makes it harder for the public to criticise MPs in election year yet makes it easier for MPs to spend taxpayer money on their election campaigns and not even have it count towards their spending cap.

Just $70 will keep a billboard alive for another day. If you go and donate $70 on our donate page, we'll keep a billboard up for another day. We can even proudly allocate a day to you, so you can claim the credit for a particular billboard on a particular day.

If you wish to donate more than $70, that of course is great.

For those "rich pricks" as our Minister of Finance calls them, we have the following options:

1. $70 for one non-Auckland billboard for one day
2. $100 for one Auckland billboard for a day
3. $150 for two non-Auckland billboards for a day
4. $200 for one Auckland billboard for a weekend
5. $500 for a billboard for a week
6. $2,000 keeps a billboard up for an entire month. 11 of these and they are up until election day.
7. $5,000 gets you an entirely new billboard with a new authoritarian and a new location for a month. You can pick to have it in your local town or suburb.
8. $10,000 gets you your own personal billboard for three months

The FSC put out this press release this afternoon:

The Free Speech Coalition, set up to campaign against the Electoral Finance Bill, is sad that MPs from Labour, NZ First, and the Greens have ignored the massive public sentiment against the bill.

The Act discourages individuals and groups from participating in the electoral process and spending their own money, while at the same time allows MPs and parliamentary parties to far more easily use taxpayer funds on their election campaigns and not even have it count towards their spending limits. It is the ultimate act in hypocrisy.

The MPs have

• Ignored the Law Society’s advice that the Bill should be scrapped• Ignored the Human Rights Commission opposition to the regulated period, and their request to allow the public to submit on the amended Bill• Ignored the NZ Institute of Charted Accountant’s advice that the Bill is unworkable• Ignored the Electoral Commission’s advice on spending limits• Failed to provide legislative certainty around the exemptions for MPs• Protected anonymous donations with massive loopholes which may result in less, not more, disclosure• Continually misrepresented key clauses of the Bill

“New Zealand has no written constitution. At the end of the day 61 MPs in Parliament can pass any law they like, no matter how repugnant. Previously constitutional conventions have protected Acts like the Electoral Act, but the passage of the Electoral Finance Bill sees the demise of that convention.” said spokesperson David Farrar.

“We hoped the parties supporting this Bill would listen to the near universal opposition from the media, from the legal profession, and from the public and do the right thing. Sadly they have chosen not to.

“We do not believe there should be no consequences for those parties which passed the Electoral Finance Act into law. The NZ Herald correctly labeled it as an “Attack on Democracy” and we believe it is time for Democracy to attack back.

“The Free Speech Coalition will commence an advertising campaign tomorrow against parties and MPs which voted for the Electoral Finance Act. This campaign will continue into 2008. A media advisory with details of the campaign will be released tomorrow.

ENDS

Listen to Chris Trotter speaking with Larry Williams about Mike Williams and finally ending up with a chat about the EFA.

Trotter, like the good Labour lickspittle he is, runs the party lines about “somebody” who spoke up, couldn’t be seen and Mike moved on. Unfortunately for Trotter we now know who it is and it s beyond belief that Mike Williams didn’t know who was speaking.

Finally Trotter finishes up by describing the legislation as appalling or some such thing. Oh and Farrar gets a mention, interestingly as a legal expert.

No Right Turn thinks a consistent position is a hypocritical one.When the government passed the Electoral Finance Act, the right screamed that it was an assault on free speech. Now they’re trying to use it to shut down the stage version of The Hollow Men. Ostensibly, this is being done to “clarify the law”. In [...]

EFA story probably a shock - My story on the Labour congress this morning will come as a shock to many of the delegates who were there.

Not because they feel “caught-out”; planning to possibly break the law by dishing out Government Department publicity… [NZ Politics]

Labour is in full retreat mode over Audrey Young’s revelations this morning. No matter what they say though they cannot deny that Mike Williams said what he said. The orders have even come down from on high for the apparatchiks in HQ to issue instructions to willing volunteers who ring to find out where to get the brochures.

Clark says they aren’t election materials but clearly if they re handed out by Labour supporters and their top campaign manager tells peple to hand them all of a sudden they become Labour Party brochures. Labour are cynically trying yet again to steal money from the public purse.

Labour’s plan to sidestep ads law - The Labour Party is planning to use the resources of Government departments to campaign this year on its flagship policies, confidential strategy notes from the weekend Labour Congress in Wellington show.In a private session on… [NZ Politics]

Breath-taking thievery from Labour. They passed a law with the help of the Greens and NZ First and a bit part by Peter Dunne to restrict what others have to say and now they plan to steal more money to push their barrrow.

Once again it is Mike Williams who has dropped the party in the crap.

The plan is quite simple, have government department produce lots of lovely brochures and have them passed out by Labour volunteers.

Once again though Labour has shown their complete contempt and also their complete ineptitude over the law that they passed.

Now that Mike Williams has blabbed the plan those brochures become Labour election advertising. If so much as one volunteer hands them out they become Labour election advertising and count towards the total of Labour’s expenditure. Of course it wouldn’t have escaped anyones notice that all government pamphlets that come out are a nice bright red colour. I think it is time for a law on aproved colour of government advertising, I think a nice bland beige or grey would suit.

Mike Williams assertions that Labour have plenty of hooter are proven to be demonstrably false by their actions to raid every purse they can get their hands on plus the kiddies piggy bank.

In their desperate attempts to deflect their blatant breaches of the Electoral Finance Act Annette King was proudly displaying unauthorised leaflets that “anyone can pick up from the National Party”

She told parliament;

Hon Bill English: Can the Minister confirm that the only egg around is the egg on Labour’s face, given that it spent 2 years lecturing everyone else on keeping the law after it had broken it in the 2005 election, then was the first to breach the Electoral Finance Act, which that party itself had passed; and why does Labour deserve not to be referred to the police like every other party will be?

Hon ANNETTE KING: I think I will wait to see whether there will be any egg on anyone’s face, because I have to tell the House that the National Party bumper stickers I am holding have no authorisation on them and no electoral agent on them. Any member of the public of New Zealand can pick them up right now, and they say “Party vote National”. They are on their way to the Electoral Commission for it to decide whether there will be some egg on the National Party’s face, because its members are the ones who have been berating every other party in this House for not keeping to the rules.

As she was holding up the alleged bumper stickers.

Bill looked a little puzzled – no such bumper stickers have been part of 2008 election campaign.

But wait there is more from the lying troll

Hon Bill English: Can the Minister confirm that the Electoral Finance Act was put together by Labour as a way of punishing its critics, that it was done so badly that all parties in this House, including her own, are struggling day by day to work out how to comply with it, and that the only exception is that Labour members believe they are above the law and should not be referred to the police when they break it?

Hon ANNETTE KING: First of all, the Labour Party does not believe it is above the law. I suspect that the National Party does, because it has had this material on its website since 12 January this year; the public can get it off the website, and it is not authorised as an election advertisement. Secondly, the Labour Party did not bring in the Act to regulate other parties in this House. The Act was brought in to address the old rorters across on the other side of the House, who were busy with their fingers in the pockets of big business, trying to buy an election, and who were caught out by very good detective work by the Green Party.

Hon Bill English: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The Minister might want to correct the impression she has given the House. National has not used that kind of insignia for a long time, and the Minister has now just confirmed that she printed it off a website. It was not actually published, yet she claimed earlier it had been published and distributed.

The information that Annette King held up was some archived information off the National Party Website dating back to the 2005 Election. They are sad, desperate, stupid liars. No wonder 50% of the country want to get rid of them. Lying in the House is now the norm. Not only that the documents that King trumpeted in the house are from a website that actually does have an authorisation on it and therefore anything inside the website is automatically authorised.

Contrast that with Labour’s own unauthorised website that similarly contains policy details and brochures from 2005. Annette King should kick her researchers in the arse for landing her even deeper in the mire with that little cunning stunt.

Do not trust Labour they are liars.

The Electoral Finance Act, rort of rorts, just got that little bit more stupid.No doubt there’s more to come too.I’d quote, but everyone’s already seen it all.What a joke.

New Zealand Parliament - 2. Electoral Finance Act—Reporting of Offences

Minister King didn’t front and left the embarrassing task of explaining Labour’s breaches of the Electoral Finance Act to Michael Cullen. ote also Winston’s blatant attack on the media in a desperate attempt to hide his own parties breaches.

2. Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Justice: Is it the Government’s policy that if the Electoral Commission believes an offence has been committed under the Electoral Finance Act 2007 it must report this to the police, unless the commission believes the offence is so inconsequential that there is no public interest in doing so?

Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Leader of the House) on behalf of the Minister of Justice: That is the purport of section 111 of the Electoral Finance Act.

Hon Bill English: Is the Minister aware that the Electoral Commission has ruled that Labour breached the Electoral Finance Act by not having an authorisation statement on its We’re Making a Difference for Everyone booklet; if so, does she expect the commission to refer this matter to the police?

Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN: I understand the Electoral Commission has determined not to send the matter to the police.

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Helen Clark’s Labour continues to flout election laws. This clip contains video from last nights 3 News and shows Helen Clark accepting cash from a supporter and also speaking in from of rather large signs that encourage people to Vote Labour.

Quite apart from her daggy dancing it is illegal for those signs to be up without authorisation from wither the party’s of the local candidate’s financial agent. The evidence is there for all to see that Labour continues to contravene the laws that they passed.

I hope that the donation/bribe given to Clark has been noted in the interests of transparency. I know for sure that many National MP’s do not handle donations and just recently in the house Labour made a big song and dance over accepting cash and signing up members. It is for exactly the reason shown by Pete Hodgson that they do not accept such donations. Now we have the Prime Minister of New Zealand handling cash from supporters.