KEY POINTS:
The Electoral Finance Bill will receive its final reading in Parliament today with growing confusion over how it will be applied when the new regulated period for political advertising begins in two weeks' time.
The Coalition for Open Government believes that the law will be applied differently in
January than it would be a month out from an election.
National Party deputy leader Bill English says that that would negate the Government's purpose in introducing the bill - to start the regulated period from January 1.
The bill broadens the definition of advertising, puts spending limits of $120,000 on non-political parties and lengthens the period of regulation to almost the whole election year instead of three months before an election.
Faced with a torrent of opposition to the bill from interest groups, the Government insisted that issue-based ads won't be covered by the law.
The Coalition for Open Government agrees and says judges will look at that policy when test cases are before them.
Spokesman Steven Price said an advertising campaign designed to change the mind of a Government would not be caught by the law and not have to be counted as an election expense.
But the same ad run in the heat of an election campaign, say a month out, would be caught because even if it did not say vote for a particular party, it could reasonably be seen as intended to persuade a voter, essentially the definition of political advertising.
Mr Price said: "What the courts are being asked to do is say, 'Do we think this is a clever way to influence the election or a genuine statement about an issue'."
He rejected a suggestion that was expecting the Courts and Electoral Commission to get inside the heads of the advertisers.
"No. It is an objective test," Mr Price said.
Courts would consider several factors before deciding whether it was intended to persuade voters, including timing and Bill of Rights issues.
Mr English said under the current law there was a "bright line" at three months before the election and there was nothing in the bill to steer the Electoral Commission towards having a different rule on January 7 than a week before the election.
"Nothing at all. That is why they are changing the law, to stop people doing things that would be construed as electioneering outside of the regulated period."
No one could rely on the interpretation the Coalition for Open Government was giving as a protection.
Prime Minister Helen Clark would not comment yesterday on criticism by former Labour Prime Minister Mike Moore that the bill was "unprecedented in the free world"
But she said at her post cabinet press conference: "I don't think there is any extraordinary [thing] about campaign law reform here compared with overseas jurisdictions. Every democracy tries to stop the power of big money in politics."
