PM deflects query on refund idea

It's premature to talk about paying back money spent on Labour's pledge card while certain processes are being followed, Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday.

Labour has come under sustained attack from National and Act over its use of $446,000 in taxpayers' money from the leader's budget for the party's credit card-sized election pledge card.

The Electoral Commission referred Labour's election spending to the police after it deemed that the money should have been included in Labour's spending - pushing it about $400,000 over the legal limit for campaign expenditure.

It is also against Parliament's rules to use Parliamentary Service funds for electioneering and the multi-party Parliamentary Service Commission is looking into the issue.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister was asked whether she was considering paying back the money for the pledge card.

"I think that's a rather premature question," she said. "Quite frankly, there's a whole lot of processes going on around a range of parties' use of their leaders' funds and I don't think it would be warranted to highlight one instance and not others."

The Auditor-General could look at the range of parties' publications paid for by leaders' funds.

She referred to the Exclusive Brethren pamphlets - which attacked the Green Party and urged voters to use their party vote to change the Government.

These pamphlets had been referred to the police by the Chief Electoral Officer.

Helen Clark said she did not expect to be interviewed by the police for their investigation.

As well as looking at Labour's spending, officers are investigating National for breaching the cap on its broadcast advertising after it failed to account for $100,000 in GST.

- NZPA