Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

A new group calling themselves "People Power" have claimed responsibility for throwing a brick at the window of PM Helen Clark's electorate office in Mt Albert.

The group say their actions were the first protest against the controversial Electoral Finance Act, which was rushed through before Christmas by Labour and friends, and has been slammed as suppressing free speech.

People Power (New Zealand) say the brick was aimed at getting Ms Clark's attention, and that it will engage in "other acts of civil disobedience between now and this year’s general election."

The group have dismissed media reports about an alleged witness Sheree Taylor, who claims to have seen a person on a motor scooter throw a brick at the window. Taylor says she tried to get the registration number of the scooter, but was attacked by a cat and screamed.

People Power have also denied the request of Barry Wilson, President of the Auckland Council of Civil Liberties to "come out of hiding". They've challenged Wilson to publicly affirm his allegiance to the Green Party and "the radical far-left of the political spectrum."

People Power say the brick was "double spray painted (black, then white)" and featured the following messages...

“Repeal the E.F.A.”

“Hey Helen, does this qualify as a terrorist act?”

“Electoral Finance Act: R.I.P. Democracy 2007”

“Register this as a third party”

“To: Labour, NZ First, Greens, UFNZ, Progressive, From: People of NZ”

Meanwhile, an unrelated group have also set up a website, under the unapologetic name of Don't Vote Labour.

The group is promoting the following "badge" image, which they are encouraging bloggers and website owners to use to "spread the word"...
The owners say they "are are not supporting any other party - just saying to you "Don't Vote Labour"... Labour is now in it's 9th year of Government and is taking it for granted. They blatantly ignore the voice of the people, and instead pursue their own socialist agenda."

David Farrar at Kiwiblog notes that it is "clearly an illegal election advertisement under the Electoral Finance Act as it advocates against a party, and does not have a name and address of its promoter on the site."

* 3/1 - UPDATE: The creator of the "Don't Vote Labour" has been revealed as Christchurch man Andrew Moore. He says he didn't set up the website to purposely break the law, but admits he is expecting to hear from the Electoral Commission.