Campaign funding makes a mockery of democracy

The system used to allocate State broadcasting funds and television time is anti-democratic and merely reinforces the status quo, the Alliance says.

Alliance co-leader Jill Ovens says serious parties should be given the opportunity to get their message out to the public.

“It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. The parties already in Parliament and expected to do best according to the polls are given the most resources to promote themselves.”

The Alliance has been categorised along with Christian Heritage, Destiny NZ and the Libertarianz, none of which are serious political parties. The Alliance has been given just one minute to make its case to the people of New Zealand and $20,000 for its total broadcasting expenditure.

“The Alliance has a long and proud history of fighting the privatisation of assets and defending the interests of working class New Zealanders,” Ms Ovens says.

She points out that just three years ago, the Alliance was in Government in coalition with Labour.

The Alliance argued that it should at the very least be treated equally with the Progressives, which broke away from the Alliance in 2002 and has consistently polled lower.

“The difference between us and the Progressives is a couple of thousand votes in Waitakere in 2002. Jim Anderton won his Wigram seat and Laila Harre lost hers in a closely fought campaign.”

The Alliance is the only Party standing for the interests of the working class poor and is planning to use its allocation to highlight the fact that one in three New Zealand children live in poverty, that young people start their adult lives saddled with student debt, and that elderly people go without heating because they can not afford to pay their electric bills.

In its submission, the Alliance noted that it was difficult for the party to attract media support because it represented the dispossessed, and even more difficult to get its message into mainstream media without Parliamentary representation or resources. The Alliance is in the process of selecting its Party list and will be standing 12 candidates in selected working class seats.

ENDS

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