Little says ‘ugly election’ likely with hot issues to the fore

Justice Minister Andrew Little expects a barrage of misinformation in the lead-up to next year’s referendum questions about euthanasia and recreational cannabis.

The passage of the End of Life Choice Bill means voters will be asked at the election next year whether they support the measure coming into force. There will also be a question about legalising recreational cannabis.

Teams in the Justice Ministry will prepare neutral, factual information for each referendum and make that publicly available, but they will not be tasked with calling out misinformation.

Given the issues are emotive ones, the campaigns from all sides are expected to be passionate.

“The chances it will be a reasonably ugly election are reasonably high,” Little told the Herald.

Anyone with an issue with advertising could lodge a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority, but Little recently lost a case with the ASA that has shattered his confidence.

“I just hope they understand they have a responsibility when they are regulating advertising for the purposes of a general election and or a referendum. They should discharge their duties responsibly.”

He wasn’t only talking about his complaint.

“Somebody complained about an ad that said icecream makes you happy, and they ruled that the ad had to be removed on the grounds that it was factually incorrect. You’ve got to wonder where their heads are at.”

ASA chief executive Hilary Souter said the ASA recognised free speech and differences of political opinion, and she was surprised at Little’s comments.

Little also expected “clearly egregiously factually incorrect statements” to be circulated on social media.

Little said he would do what he could to call out misinformation, and called on others to do the same.

“In a vibrant democracy, you call stuff out. That’s all you’ve got.”