KEY POINTS:
Child welfare advocates the Littlies Lobby will be captured by the Electoral Finance Bill and everything it produces in an election year will be subjected to statutory restrictions, says National.
Justice Minister Mark Burton said he was not sure if the lobby would meet definitions under the bill
and he had not seen the group's material.
"Any specific documents by any specific groups would need to be submitted for appropriate consideration."
National deputy leader Bill English made the claim in Parliament yesterday and cited the definition of "election advertising" in the bill, which is before the justice and electoral select committee.
The advertising has been widened beyond the commonly accepted notions of words and graphics intended to persuade people to support a candidate or party to words or graphics "taking a position with which one or more parties or one or more candidates is associated".
Mr English argued that because the Littlies Lobby campaigns for the welfare of children and that parties take different positions on child welfare, the organisation would come under the act if it intended to spend more than $5000 in an election year promoting its messages.
"The security and welfare of children is an issue on which parties and candidates take positions or, to use the term in the legislation, don't take positions," Mr English said.
The Littlies Lobby - described as a joint initiative between Plunket and the Office of the Commissioner for Children - campaigns on welfare issues which he believes would place it under third-party scrutiny.
Its key messages are that children must come first; they must have the right start; they must have quality care and must be secure at home.
Mr English says the law reform is draconian and he could not see how the Littlies Lobby could escape the "anti-democratic driftnet".
"Labour is attempting to silence its critics in election year, while spending a small fortune campaigning on the public purse through the departmental budget."
The bill regulates not only the outputs of political parties in election year, but of third parties, such as unions and lobby groups.
Any group that spends more than $5000 on "election advertising" must register with the Chief Electoral Office, appoint a financial agent and submit a return after the election. Third parties are limited to spending $60,000 a year.
"ELECTION ADVERTISEMENT"
a) means any form of words or graphics, or both, that can reasonably be regarded as doing one or more of the following:
i) encouraging or persuading voters to vote, or not to vote, for one or more specified parties or for one or more candidates or for any combination of such parties and candidates.
ii) encouraging or persuading voters to vote, or not to vote, for a type of party or for a type of candidate that is described or indicated by reference to views, positions, or policies that are or not held, taken or pursued (whether or not the name of a party or the name of a candidate is stated).
iii) taking a position on a proposition with which one or more parties or one or more candidates is associated ...