Thursday, February 09, 2012



Will the police enforce the law?

So, the Electoral Commission has found that John Key's pre-election radio show was an unlawful election programme. RadioLive is now potentially facing a fine of up to $100,000.

Assuming, of course, that the police enforce the law. Sadly, that seems unlikely. Their past record on prosecuting electoral offences is not good, and while we might expect them to have improved, the facts speak for themselves. This election, there have been over a dozen referrals to the police for beaches of electoral law, some from as long ago as August. And the police have apparently done nothing about any of them. You'd almost get the impression that they don't think its "real crime".

Except it is real crime. This is the integrity of our democracy we're talking about, and that needs to be protected. If the police are unwilling to do that, then its time we took the job off them and gave it to the Electoral Commission instead.