or any significant expenses, may publish views that have the effect of encouraging voters to vote for, or not for, some party or candidate by reference to views adopted or not adopted. The exclusions for editorial content and personal political views published on the internet must be interpreted generously, as we have just explained, but they do not protect all political speech by non-participants. There is nothing this Court can do about it, apart from drawing the problem to Parliament’s attention. To restrict s 204B(1) and (3) to parallel campaigners would be to go beyond the permissible bounds of interpretation.59 The Commission’s gatekeeper role [66] The legislation confers upon the Commission what Professor Geddis describes as the role of gatekeeper for electoral expression.60 As the facts here confirm, it is practically able to determine what is published on some media. That power comes with a substantial measure of discretion, which is inherent in its advisory function and in its responsibility to report suspected offences to the police;61 the legislation states that the Commission need not take action if it thinks breaches so inconsequential that there is no public interest in doing so. So far as ss 204B (entitlement to promote advertisements) and 204F (requirement to include promoter statements) are concerned, the legislation contemplates that the Commission will recognise that there may be no public interest in prosecuting those whose publications did not mislead voters about the publisher’s identity or involve material expenditure.62 This means the Commission should not leave the exercise of prosecutorial discretion to the police; rather, it must exercise its own discretion, considering whether the public interest will be served by reporting the matter to them. The Commission’s powers should be exercised in a manner that reflects not only its duty to report suspected offences but also its duty not to do so if the matter is inconsequential. The same approach ought to inform the exercise of its advisory powers. 59 60 61 62 Section 4 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act: see, for example, Hansen v R, above n 26, at [259]–[261]. Andrew Geddis “Law and New Zealand’s 2014 election campaign” (2015) 14 Otago L Rev 117 at 141. Electoral Act, s 204J. Section 204J(2).