Thursday, November 29, 2007
Yesterday, about 200 Christchurch, New Zealand residents of all ages formed together and marched against a current government bill going through Parliament, the Electoral Finance Bill. The opponents of this Bill share the same common ground that they consider the bill to be severely restrictive of free speech.
Under this bill, individuals or groups of New Zealanders will face restrictions on what they can say for or against a political party. Once an organisation has spent over NZ$12,000 on a campaign, they must register and then face what opponent John Boscawen describes as “draconian restrictions or requirements” including a limit of $120,000. “At a time when political parties are free to spend millions and millions of dollars promoting their own views – both from their own money, and taxpayer’s money.
The New Zealand Human Rights Commission—a government department—has described it as “inherently flawed” and said it should be withdrawn.
Wikinews’ Gabriel Pollard was on hand to record the Christchurch March for Democracy protest and the views of those marching.