Act founder Sir Roger Douglas has been accused of hijacking a university tax law lecture to push right-wing policy before the election.
The political veteran has been a guest lecturer at the University of Auckland for two years and returned on Wednesday to speak about tax structure.
But
law students were unimpressed when halfway through the two-hour session, Sir Roger began a "thinly veiled" presentation of Act Party policy before being quizzed by the crowd.
After the 70-year-old finished speaking, two Act staffers began handing out pamphlets to the leaving students.
"Lectures are not the place where party policy should be pushed, it's about learning in an objective way," said one student, who asked not to be named. "Hijacking and sabotaging the lecture like that was completely inappropriate."
Sir Roger could not be reached for comment. But Act leader Rodney Hide said pushing party policy and handing out pamphlets was a politician's job. "I do that all the time."
The student who spoke to the Herald on Sunday said Prime Minister Helen Clark had been a guest lecturer several years ago and had never mentioned the Labour Party. "She understood the protocol and it was completely different. And she was the bloody Prime Minister."
Law faculty dean Professor Paul Rishworth said, "I am satisfied that Sir Roger Douglas was an appropriate guest in a course on tax law. I am also certain that law students are mature and intelligent enough to make up their own mind about what they heard from Sir Roger."
Sir Roger will stand for the party he co-founded 20 years ago
