Parties get $3.2m funding for election

Political parties will get more than $3.2 million to broadcast their campaign messages ahead of the election, the Electoral Commission said today.

The commission sets airtime and funding allocations for political parties to deliver opening and closing addresses, which are broadcast by the state-owned broadcasters TVNZ and Radio New Zealand.

The Labour and National parties will get $1.15m each, with 20 minutes for opening addresses and 16 minutes for closing addresses.

The next biggest allocations went to the Green Party, with $300,000 and a total of 15 minutes airtime, and the ACT and Maori parties, with $160,000 and nine minutes total each.

New Zealand First and United Future both got $100,000 and 5.5 minutes in total.

The newly-formed Mana Party, which is yet to be formally registered, was not eligible for funding or airtime because it did not get an application in by the March 17 cut-off.

Parties must be registered by October 20 and get their applications in on time to be eligible for funding and time allocations.

Entertainment for your tax dollar
Eight smaller parties -- Alliance, the Kiwi Party, Libertarianz, the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, the New Zealand Sovereignty Party, Coalition of New Zealanders, the World Peace Party and the Pirate Party -- will get $20,000 and two minutes total each.

The Pirate Party - modelled on the European Party of the same name, which succeeded in getting one of its members elected to the EU parliament in the wake of four founders of the Pirate Bay file sharing service being convicted by a Swedish court - contested the Botany byelection won by National's Jami-Lee Ross. The party's candidate, Hussain Al-Saady, received 32 votes. Like its EU counterpart, the NZ Pirate Party campaigns against existing copyright laws.

A representative for the Pirate Party told NBR that after Botany, it embarked on a drive to sign 500 members - the number required to meet the Electoral Commission's general election threshold. Pirate Party membership costs $10, with a discounted $2 rate also available.

Parliament will appropriate $2.855 million, excluding GST, for the broadcasting allocations -- the same amount as the 2005 and 2008 elections.