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.
What is a third party promoter and why does this matter?
A third party promoter is someone, who is not a candidate or party, that seeks to influence how people vote at the election. There are some exceptions for people such as journalists.
At Franks Ogilvie, we don't agree that at such an important time - like an election - that your right to express your views should be curtailed. But unfortunately Parliament has decided that people seeking to share their view should be constrained.
Under Electoral law, you could incur heavy fines or be prosecuted for breach of the Act if you tell people how to vote without making sure you have met your obligations.
Do you need to register as a third party promoter?
If you are an organisation that voices a political view, engages in activism or plans to put information out before the election on how to vote, you may need to register as a third party promoter. If you are just a person expressing your personal view, generally you don’t need to. But if you or your organisation is in anyway paid for this type of work, you will probably be caught by this provision.
What is an Electoral Advertisement?
The definition of electoral advertisement is very broad. Section 3A(a) of Act, defines it as -
…advertisement in any medium that may reasonably be regarded as encouraging or persuading voters to do either or both of the following:
(i) To vote, or not vote for a type of candidate described or indicated by reference to views or positions that are, or are not,held or taken (whether or not the name of the candidate is stated):
(ii) To vote, or not to vote for a type of party described or indicated by reference to views or positions that are, or are not,held or taken (whether or not the name of the party is stated)
Most material put out by political parties and candidates are caught under this definition. But it also catches organisations that support a policy position or do a comparison between parties.
Do you need to register if you want to engage in election advertising?
You only need to register if you are planning on spending over $13,200 on election advertising. How you calculate your spending is defined in the Act. Spending can include things like what you spend on your email database during that time, not just traditional advertising like newspaper ads.
Registered promoters must collect and maintain records of all necessary returns on advertisement expenses.
What are your responsibilities if you don’t register?
Unregistered promoters still have obligations under the Act-
· All promoters must not endorse a candidate or party with the permission of the candidate or party.
· Advertisement expenses are capped at $13,200 during the regulated period
· they must not enter into any agreement with anyone in order to circumvent this restriction
· unregistered promoters must retain records necessary to ensure they have not exceeded the expense cap
If an unregistered promoter exceeds the expense cap of$13,200 or any offence under section 204D they could be referred to the Police by the Commission. It would be seen as an “illegal practice” and is punishable under section 224 with a fine up to $40,000.
How do I register?
You need to apply to the Electoral Commission through the forms on their website.
Want to know more? Contact Senior Consultant, Brigitte Morten for assistance.
“We started out thinking the consultation was just a formality, most of us would have voted for the Bill. By the time we’d learned from the community, almost every one of us thought the Bill was too dumb to be rescued, even if we tried to amend it. It would have damaged a system that was working well.”
Select Committee oral submissions are an important way to show MPs how the legislation they are scrutinising affects real people. But you need to make your submission compelling. The following is some simple things you can do to make yourself heard -
Think about the prejudices and misconceptions the Select Committee will have. MPs are people too and will come to the committee with their own ideas on who is worth listening to. Anything you can do to confront any assumed stereotypes of your group is likely to get the Committee curious about your point of view.
You have a right to put your view before the Committee. But if it just pure ideological, do not expect to be influential.
Abstract statements of principle get no traction in front of Select Committees. They tend to be used by adversaries on the Committee to grandstand to the media by making it plain that they disagree.
The Committee did not draft the Bill. Do not take your anger out on them. That does not mean you have to pretend your submission is not vitally important. You can be passionate – just not offensive.
Assume that MPs have read your submission or at least read a summary of it. Never read from it. Instead tell your story – how did you come to represent this group and how will the bill affect your life.
Want a printable version of this advice? Click here
Want advice, feedback or training for your Select Committee submission? Contact our Senior Consultant Brigitte Morten
Senior Consultant Brigitte Morten joined the Panel on Newshub on Saturday to discuss the week in politics. Alongside Dr Lara Greaves from Auckland University, they discussed the first week of National Party leader Todd Muller, the government's freshwater policy announcement and how the Green are looking heading in to the election. You can watch The Nation here
