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Speaker 1: The row brewing this morning over taxpayer funding for political

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Speaker 1: party campaign ads like this gem from twenty seventeen.

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Speaker 2: We can do better, better healthcare, better schools, better transport,

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Speaker 2: cleaner rivers and homes for all.

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Speaker 1: I am ready, We're all ready. Let's do this. The

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Speaker 1: ACT Party's calling for an end to the broadcast allocation

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Speaker 1: for election campaigns. Acting P Todd Stevenson suggested to the

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Speaker 1: Justice Select Committee that this be scrapped. Labor and the

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Speaker 1: Greens oppose it. Todd is with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning, fine, thanks for having me on.

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Speaker 1: No worries. So this is what four million dollars every

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Speaker 1: three years? Is it a waste of money?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely? Right, Look, it's a total rought. I mean, the

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Speaker 2: taxpayer does not need to be forking out just over

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Speaker 2: four million dollars every year for political parties to pay

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Speaker 2: for their TV and radio ads.

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Speaker 1: So is it a principal thing for you? You don't

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Speaker 1: think that this is the type of thing we should

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Speaker 1: be forking out for as taxpayers.

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely, Well, it's two things, Ryan, It's definitely a

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Speaker 2: principal thing. It should never have been put in place.

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Speaker 2: It was put in place for the first MMP election.

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Speaker 2: But The other thing is technology has moved on, and

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Speaker 2: so political parties are able to spend as much money

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Speaker 2: as they want on say digital advertising, so the Internet

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Speaker 2: actually are streaming services, et cetera. But you're only allowed

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Speaker 2: to pay the money that the taxpayer gives you on

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Speaker 2: TV and radio broadcasts. And so it's really too it's principled,

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Speaker 2: we just shouldn't be doing it. But secondly it's also

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Speaker 2: just hasn't moved with the times.

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Speaker 1: How much of the taxpayer funding did that use last election?

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Speaker 2: Yep, we got just over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, Ryan,

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Speaker 2: And again we took that because it's only on TV

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Speaker 2: and radio.

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Speaker 1: But you said it was a principal thing.

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Speaker 2: Yes, but again we would be restricted, so we can't

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Speaker 2: spend our own money, which ACTS always wanted to do, Ryan,

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Speaker 2: So before it was actually introduced before the first MMP

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Speaker 2: election to stop ACT spending its own money on TV

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Speaker 2: and radio. And so if we didn't use our allocation,

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Speaker 2: there's no way we could be on yeah, running ads

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Speaker 2: or TV TV stations.

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Speaker 1: But surely for a party about smaller government, lower taxes,

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Speaker 1: cutting wasteful spending, you'd take the hit for what you

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Speaker 1: call your principles.

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Speaker 2: Well, we don't think that would be fair because if

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Speaker 2: we couldn't actually get a.

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Speaker 1: Many right, Well, let's talk about fairness then.

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Speaker 2: Is it is.

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Speaker 1: It fear that a party like the Labor Party who

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Speaker 1: doesn't get as much in fact, only got as many

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Speaker 1: donations in terms of valuers act? Is it fear that

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Speaker 1: a party like that wouldn't have the same opportunities you

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Speaker 1: guys would to buy broadcast allocations because they don't get

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Speaker 1: as much donations.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, that would be fair. I mean that's the

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Speaker 2: whole point of a political party. You put out a

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Speaker 2: set of policies, a set of ideas, and you ask

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Speaker 2: people to support that, and one of the ways they

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Speaker 2: do that is make donations. It's entirely, it's entirely the

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Speaker 2: way the political process goes in his pardon yet.

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Speaker 1: I know it is. But is it fair? Is it

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Speaker 1: fear if you have a small number of wealthy donors

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Speaker 1: to one particular party versus a large number of perhaps

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Speaker 1: lower income donors to another. I mean, it's it's David

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Speaker 1: and Goliath, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: Well? I think that's different parties will have different types

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Speaker 2: of supporters. I mean, I know for a fact, Act

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Speaker 2: got lots of small donations from lots of people.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but you've also got a million dollars. You also

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Speaker 1: got a million dollars in one day and fifty and

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Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars allocations from billionaires and stuff.

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Speaker 2: Well absolutely, but that's all all disclosed, is all properly done,

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Speaker 2: And I think that shows the level of support to

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Speaker 2: some of the policies that that's put up. I mean,

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Speaker 2: that's I think that's entirely the point. Right parties have

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Speaker 2: to go out and they have to get supporters who

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Speaker 2: support their visions for New Zealand party.

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Speaker 1: I agree with you that to put I agree with that,

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Speaker 1: but surely you want a fair fight.

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Speaker 2: Well, this is actually making sure it is a fair fight.

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Speaker 2: I mean last election, Labor got one point two million

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Speaker 2: dollars to spend on TV and radio. So we want

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Speaker 2: to we want to level the playing field in this

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Speaker 2: area and say, well, lot parties raise money, they can

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Speaker 2: spend it on what they what they want, including TV

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Speaker 2: and radio if they choose to.

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Speaker 1: All right, Todd, look forward to having this debate with

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Speaker 1: Labor and the Greens if they'll come on with me.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it. Todd Stevenson,

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Speaker 1: the ACT Party MP, who says, let's get rid of

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Speaker 1: the taxpayer funded wrought that is the broadcast allocation. What

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Speaker 1: do you reckon? Nine two nine two is the numbers?

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Speaker 1: Text for more from early edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen

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Speaker 1: live to News Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio