Labour pleased with $1.2m for election but Act says it’s a rort

The Labour Party is satisfied with $1.2 million and United Future has no problems with $200,000, but none of the other political parties thinks the Electoral Commission did a fair job when it doled out money for election broadcasting.

Reactions yesterday ranged from United Future's "very pleased" to Act's "it's a rort".

New Zealand First suspects a plot and wants the commission fired, while the Greens have crunched the numbers and say the whole thing is unfair.

The commission has handed out $3.21 million for election campaign broadcasts on radio and television, and has allocated free air time for opening and closing speeches.

Six parties not represented in Parliament each get $10,000 and one minute.

Labour's president, Mike Williams, said the commission had correctly established his party's allocation according to the rules of the Electoral Act.

He said the small parties had not tried to change the law, so they should "just take what's dished out".

National's general manager, Steven Joyce, said his party's share was unfair and it should have been given the same amount as Labour.

"The leading opposition party and the governing party should have the same amount on the basis they are the two competing visions," he said.

United Future leader Peter Dunne was very pleased and thought the allocation was fair.

The rest were not pleased, and did not think they had received a fair share.

"It's a rort. It's a jack-up between the Labour-National two-party club," said Act's leader Rodney Hide.

"They sock the poor taxpayer for party political broadcasts and then take the lion's share for themselves."

NZ First leader Winston Peters said the commission had shown it was unable to carry out its responsibilities objectively.

"The allocations ... are designed to prevent New Zealand First from obtaining fair advertising and broadcasting rights," he said.

"New Zealand First gets less than a quarter of National's funding and we won half as much support as National in the last election.

"The Electoral Commission should be fired."

Green Party co-leader Rod Donald said the total budget had increased by 60 per cent, and Labour's share had jumped 78 per cent compared with the last election.

The commission's chief executive, Helena Catt, said the criteria had been followed and the increased total reflected higher costs.

It considers the number of MPs each party had, votes won at the last election and opinion poll ratings.

Who gets what

* Labour $1.2 million, 18 minutes broadcast time.
* National $900,000, 18 minutes.
* Act, the Greens, NZ First and United Future all $200,000, 10 minutes.
* Maori Party $125,000 and seven minutes.
* Progressive Party $75,000, seven minutes.

- NZPA