KEY POINTS:
The Government appears to have backed away from exempting Government departments from the Electoral Finance Bill in the wake of bad publicity over such a proposal.
The justice and electoral committee will meet at Parliament today to make final decisions on its amendments to the controversial bill.
But senior minister Pete Hodgson told National Deputy Leader Bill English in Parliament yesterday that there would be no immunity for Government departments.
"I can assure the member there will be no immunity or special treatment for Government departments under this Government."
That is a departure from previous decisions thought to have been taken in the Beehive to get the committee to insert an exemption for Government departments.
Mr Hodgson said if any Government department was unsure whether their advertising was in the guidelines set out by the State Services Commission, it could ask the advice of the Auditor-General.
Mr Hodgson's assurance means that Government departments advertising flagship Government policies may be open to legal challenge by the bill's critics in a bid to get them registered as "third parties" under the bill.
That would then limit the amount they could spend in election year - at present $60,000 in the bill but likely to be increased.
Government departments are not allowed to electioneer, but under the wide definition of election advertising in the present bill - taking a view on a proposition held by a party or candidate - advertisements promoting KiwiSaver and Working For Families would almost certainly be caught, even if the advertising was not conventionally "political."
The position outlined by Mr Hodgson suggests the committee will emerge with a much tighter definition of election advertising that would exempt Government departments without saying it exempted them.
It is expected to stick to its plan to begin the regulated period from January 1 of an election year instead of three months before an election.
Parliament last night continued debating the committee stages of what National calls "a companion bill" to the Electoral Finance Bill that will advantage sitting MPs in an election year over non-MP candidates.
While others will be regulated from January 1, the bill gives MPs carte blanche to produce publicity material that does not explicitly seek votes or money.
The Appropriation (Continuation of Interim Meaning of Funding for Parliamentary Purposes) Bill continues the liberal spending rules MPs voted themselves after the Auditor-General's report last criticised their spending.
National's Tony Ryall waved around a series of parliamentary-paid pamphlets on Labour which he said under the old rules would have to have been counted as an election expense but which would not under the Election Finance Bill.
The bill exempts from being counted as an election expense "anything done in relation to a member of Parliament in his or her capacity as a member of Parliament."
"Whatever MPs spend of their parliamentary money in the run-up to an election, it is not an election expense," Mr Ryall said.
"Everyone else in New Zealand is going to have to honour spending limits expecting members of Parliament. Why are members of Parliament above the rules that everybody else is under?"
He said it was a "rort" of a bill that gave MPs separate election rules.
Labour MP Paul Swain is response produced a recent leaflet for Nelson National MP Nick Smith that includes the heading "Why NZ needs a new Government" that was paid for out of parliamentary funds.
"You can over there criticise the Labour party for putting out information to electorates and then say that there is nothing wrong with Nick Smith doing it.
"The moral indignation falls flat."
The bill extends the parliamentary rules to June 2009 and is expected to pass its third reading tonight.
