The New Zealand Media Freedom Committee Chairman, Tim Pankhurst has called yesterday’s
court judgement over the TV3 election debate “bizarre decision”.

“The courts should not be meddling in this area,” Pankhurst said
in a media release. “It is a
dangerous precedent for the democratic process when judges are allowed to
dictate which politicians should be included in specific programmes.”

Still, as Crikey’s expat readers in the Shaky Isles like to remind
us, in New Zealand they don’t do
politics like we do. Instead, they are polite. Very polite. In Question Time in Wellington, for example, they
actually tend to answer questions, rather than go for the grab or just make
broad, sweeping statements.

Parliament continued to sit after the election announced, with
business as usual eve while the policies were being wheeled out. “No compulsory voting, no how to vote cards, strict limits
set on campaigning funds per party at a local level and the much-loved
billboards which seem to be the only real advertising we get appear for a
certain time and have to be pulled down I understand straight after the
election,” one writes.

But some things aren’t that different. “Today I received my
daily email propaganda from a minister bagging the National opposition using
his department email system. Imagine that happening or at least being gotten
away with at home. Perhaps Kiwi politicians aren’t that different after all.”