Brigitte is admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court.
She has over a decade of experience working in politics across Australia and New Zealand. She has a Bachelor of Law from Victoria University, a Masters of Law from the Australian National University, and a Graduate Certificate in Counter-Terrorism from Interdisciplinary Center (Israel).
Brigitte spent three years providing political and media advice to the Embassy of Israel in Australia, whilst dealing with a number of high profile events. She worked as a Senior Advisor in state politics and worked on a number of Australian state and federal election campaigns. Brigitte was a Chief of Staff to an Australian Senator, before returning home to be the Senior Ministerial Advisor to the Minister of Education in the last National Government.
She has worked extensively with clients in the private sector to help them establish and maintain relationships with government, lobby on important issues, and drive campaigns to raise public interest. Brigitte particularly enjoys working with grassroots and member based organisations.
Brigitte has extensive knowledge of law making processes, how to best utilise the Official Information Act, and how to coordinate public interest campaigns across multiple channels. She is particularly interested and experienced in firearms law, electoral law and large scale reforms.
She is a regular commentator for RNZ and Newshub, and writes a weekly column for NBR.
Senior Consultant Brigitte Morten was on RNZ's Nine to Noon alongside Shane Te Pou and host Kathryn Ryan. They discussed the failures in the Government's vaccination programme, the border closure to flights from India, light rail, business confidence and the increasing pressure on the health system.
Overview -
Franks Ogilvie assisted a new political party in meeting their responsibilities under the Electoral Act.
Issue –
The Electoral Act 1993 is 377 pages long. Successful adherence to its many provisions often relies upon experienced campaigners who know how to navigate it. As a new political party, it was difficult for our client to be confident they were upholding their many responsibilities. While the Electoral Commission provides good resources for candidates and parties, it is sometimes difficult to apply generic laws to particular fact situations.
What we did –
Franks Ogilvie ensured the party were aware of their obligations and how regulators would normally interpret the provisions of the Act. Throughout the course of the election, the party engaged with us on a range of matters, including detailed questions and proposed advertising materials, to check their understanding of the Act was correct. We provided them with practical advice that drew on rulings from the Electoral Commission and publicly available examples from other political parties to demonstrate how the law had been enforced.
Outcome –
The political party contested the 2020 election with no issues regarding their electoral advertising.
If you are interested in electoral law matters, please get in contact with Brigitte Morten.
Senior Consultant Brigitte Morten spoke on the Nine to Noon politics panel this week alongside UMR's Stephen Mills. They discussed the lockdown in Auckland last week and decision to lift restrictions after three days, the Prime Minister's reaction to Australia withdrawing citizenship for the 'jihadi bride', and whether there should be Parliamentary Privileges complaints on videos of MPs in the House.
