Ads catch out United Future candidate

United Future's Larry Baldock has had to adjust his campaign spending after the Chief Electoral Officer ruled newspaper advertisements were an attempt to influence voters.

Mr Baldock revealed he was caught out after it emerged that the National Party's Tauranga candidate, Bob Clarkson, faced an inquiry into whether some advertisements should be counted in his $20,000 election budget.

In Mr Baldock's case, a group of businesspeople bought $3500 of newspaper advertising on August 18 and 19 to acknowledge his contribution to securing an extra $150 million of new highway funding for the area.

Although Mr Baldock argued the businesses were not endorsing his candidacy, Chief Electoral Officer David Henry ruled last week that the advertising was an attempt to influence voters during the three-month lead-up to an election and the $3500 had to be treated as part of Mr Baldock's maximum $20,000 budget.

The advertisements ran in the Bay of Plenty Times and other media.

Mr Clarkson's advertising feature in the Bay of Plenty Times was largely paid for by advertising from businesses that had worked on his Mitre 10 Mega and Bunnings Warehouse construction projects.

Neither Mr Clarkson nor Mr Baldock said they instigated the advertising features, although both knew about them before publication.

Mr Henry was unable to say if he would finish the investigation before the election.

- NZPA