Kill PM song may breach NZ election rules

The New Zealand Electoral Commission is examining whether the controversial song Kill The PM breaks election advertising rules.

New Zealand election officials are looking at whether a song threatening to kill Prime Minister John Key and have sex with his daughter falls foul of election advertising rules.

Auckland-based hip-hop outfit @peace has released Kill The PM, a track that paints Mr Key as a greedy rich man who takes money from the poor and deserves to die.

It's already offended the Family First lobby group, and the Electoral Commission is now checking whether it breaches the same rules which banned Darren Watson's satirical song Planet Key two weeks ago, a ban Watson is set to challenge in court.

A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission told AAP it is examining if Kill The PM breaks rules stopping the broadcast of material by third parties which appears to encourage voters to vote, or not, for a political party.

She was unsure how long it would take to make a decision, saying the office was busy as Tuesday was the deadline for the nomination of candidates for the election.

Among the lyrics to the song are "ain't doin' nothin' so I'm gonna kill the prime minister.

"I been tryin' to get a job, but they got none, so instead I got a sawn-off shotgun, and pop."

The lyrics also suggest robbing the prime minister of all his luxury possessions and having sex with his daughter.

NZ On Air funded five @peace songs between August 2011 and June this year, but says it did not fund Kill The PM.

The group's frontman, Tom Scott, is formerly from hip-hop group Homebrew, which released a track ahead of the 2011 election criticising tax cuts that benefit the rich.

Family First director Bob McCoskrie has already complained about the track to the Office of Film and Literature Classification and is considering laying a complaint with police.

"You cannot go any lower than this type of personal and offensive attack on a politician and their family," he said.


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