Helen Clark continues to push for restrictions or bans on advertising during general elections by non political parties - see Clark favours campaign law reform
Attempting to regulate this area is a minefield of problems - philosophically and legally. Bans are draconian and ultra-undemocratic, and there are always ways to get around restrictions on third party advertising. As the Sensible Sentencing Trust have indicated, they would simply fragment its spending among separate organisations or individuals. If you want to spend $500,000 and the limit is $50,000, then you just fragment it around 10 different people or organisations.
