KEY POINTS:
Jim Anderton's claim he "won't let them sell Kiwibank" has riled a voter who says the Progressive Party leader is overstating his powers.
Mr D. Dickinson complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about a Progressive billboard seeking party votes for the one-MP party.
But complaints board chairman Rob Thompson ruled the billboard was not likely to mislead people. He decided not to pass the matter on to the complaints board.
Mr Dickinson said the claim that "Jim won't let them sell Kiwibank" was misleading because Progressive might not get any seats at the election. Even if it did, the party did not know how much influence it would have.
However, in his ruling on the complaint, Mr Thompson said it was clear the billboard was advocating for the Progressive Party.
Mr Thompson said the Kiwibank claim was a matter of opinion rather than fact. The advertisement was in the nature of a robust debate that was essential to a democratic society.
Mr Anderton said the complaint was silly. "If it was powder for washing clothes [I was selling] you have to buy it before you know whether it works or not. For me to be able to stop the National Party selling Kiwibank, I have to be elected to Parliament and hopefully to Government."
The National Party has said it would not sell any state assets during its first term in power.
Standards authority executive director Hilary Souter said people needed to see political party advertising in the context of the election. Political parties had more leeway to make claims than commercial advertisers because everyone knew they were "putting their best foot forward".
She added: "People are looking for votes and advertising is one of the ways they do that."
