2020 Election: Advance NZ Files Court Order Against MediaWorks For Exclusion From Minor Party Debate

Advance NZ filed an urgent injunction against MediaWorks today after it was excluded from the debate by minor party leaders.

Co-leaders Billy Te Kahika and former National Party MP Jami-Lee Ross said in a statement that the request for an urgent interlocutory injunction was filed in Auckland High Court.

The television station will host the debate, broadcast this Saturday, with the leader of the Law David Seymour, the co-leader of the Green Party Marama Davidson and the co-leader of the Maori Party John Tamihere.

Despite being excluded from the MediaWorks debate, Advance NZ will participate in the TVNZ minor party debate due to its discretion to include current members of Parliament. Ross is Botany’s MP, but has said he dropped out of the electorate race before the Oct. 17 election.

In today’s statement, Ross said that MediaWorks’ decision to exclude Advance NZ, which had 1 percent voter support in a recent 1 News-Colmar Brunton poll, will do serious harm to the party if not question.

“Seeking judicial intervention is not a small step, but as one of the watchdogs of television coverage of the democratic process, MediaWorks’ decision requires urgent review,” he said.

“Advance NZ believes in the importance of New Zealanders listening to a variety of views from political parties before casting their vote, and that parties should have fair access to major public platforms.”

Advance NZ has been questioned for apparently spreading conspiracy theories on the internet about Covid-19, the United Nations, and 5G, among others.

Thousands of party supporters have marched and demonstrated against Covid-19 restrictions and shutdowns this year.

“New Zealand’s advanced candidates have been excluded from a series of electoral political debates across the country, and it is time to stand up for the people and perspectives we represent,” Ross said in the statement.

“This is not the first time that a political party has questioned a television station’s decision on who can participate in a multi-party electoral debate.”

Before the 2017 election, The Opportunities Party (TOP) filed an urgent judicial review request after TVNZ excluded its founder and then leader Gareth Morgan from its debates.

The Superior Court ruled against TOP and Morgan.

However, in 2014, then-Conservative Party leader Colin Craig successfully challenged MediaWorks in court after not being invited to the minor party debate.

And in 2005, the Supreme Court also ruled in favor of United Future leader Peter Dunne and Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton joining the TV3 leadership debate.

Advance NZ said it has instructed Honor Lanham and Jordan Grimmer as attorneys, who will be assisted by Wellington attorney Graeme Edgeler.

Massey University communications professor Claire Robinson has also provided independent expert evidence to assist the court, the party said.