June 10, 2020
Broadcast limits irk Tamihere
Māori Party co-leader says the allocation of broadcast funding for the election is grossly unfair and puts smaller parties at a huge disadvantage.
The Māori Party has joined with Social Credit, the New Conservatives, Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis and the NZ Outdoors Party to challenge the allocation.
Using a formula that includes the number of a party’s existing MPs, the Electoral Commission allocated National $1.28 million to Labour’s $1.7 million, with the remaining $1.6 million shared among 17 other parties.
The Greens and NZ First both have $310,000 to book advertising time, and ACT, the Māori Party and The Opportunities Party each have $145,000.
Mr Tamihere says National and Labour have other advantages built into the system.
“They’re fully funded. All of their MPs, all of their candidates are fully funded, virtually, to run a campaign. Right up to election day they can jump in taxis, hire vehicles, rentals, planes and go anywhere, any time they want. For a party like the Māori Party, our people are still doing blinking raffles etc to try to get across the line,” he says.
Mr Tamihere says the switch to MMP voting was to give smaller parties a greater voice, but that has been quashed by the funding process.
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