Electoral Finance Bill gets stalled in Parliament

They don't call it a political grind for nothing.

C Emmerson, NZ Herald 2007

The passing of the Electoral Finance Bill by Labour into law this week isn't going to happen.

The National opposition party are hammering every new clause to the hastily rushed and badly drafted bill and it is chewing up valuable parliamentary time.

There is a very distant possibility that National could stall the bill long enough for Labour to have to come back next February after the summer break.

There is of course the possibility that the house sit under urgency to pass the bill, as they have done with many other contentious constitutional and social changing legislation.

Whatever the time line, the bill is going to pass and the net affect will be that New Zealand citizens will have their democratic right to express their political views, without fear, in election year, removed.

C Political Animal 2007