Lawyers for the New Conservative will have their case heard against Television New Zealand at the High Court in Auckland tomorrow.

The broadcaster has excluded the party from its Multi-Party debate prompting court proceedings.

To be included in the debate, parties not in Parliament must score at least 3 percent in a 1 News Colmar-Brunton Poll in the last six months.

The Maori Party did not meet this threshold, but has been included in the TVNZ debate.

New Conservative Leader, Waimakariri-based Leighton Baker said “the 5% threshold of MMP is a huge hurdle for smaller parties lacking corporate or taxpayer funding.”

“It’s made so much harder by the media failing to do its duty to fairly and reasonably provide information about candidates, parties, and policies so the public can make informed decisions.”

 “Suppression is not just by police and jackboots. Suppression of political speech, middle New Zealanders, and the disadvantaged, is just as effective by exclusion,” he explained. “In addition to our publicly-owned media playing this despicable game, there’s privately owned media, like Stuff, actively ignoring and distorting information about voters’ options. The best message in the world is pointless if no one is allowed to hear it.”

 “The facts are that New Conservative is the 5th highest polling party. It is an established, committed political option, and is standing candidates in all 72 electorates, including the Maori seats.”