KEY POINTS:
8:12pm: I received a letter tonight from Dr Helena Catt, the chief executive of the Electoral Commission, about the four items I had referred to it.
They were all produced with public money by Parliament which is of no account to the commission but important to me.
Three items
looked like election advertising to me (An Act and Labour booklet and a Labour balloon) and another policy discussion document, National's Blue Green booklet, carried a point to the party's website.
The commission says that the two booklets are election advertising - though it is getting a legal opinion on whether giving out literature at a party conference to journalists, which is where the Act booklet was obtained, constitutes "publication" of an ad.
It has cleared the National Party document. In that regard I have done parties a huge favour. Simply referring to a party website is not an election ad ( presumably it might however if it contained a persuasive message in the website title).
Labour, and possibly Act, will get a warning. If they distribute the booklets without authority they will be referred to the police.
All party secretaries will receive advice of the decisions. I've actually done the parties quite a favour though it wasn't my intention. I was trying to highlight just how much MPs have changed their spending rules to suit themselves.
My interest was in whether material that MPs insist is not election advertising under their own liberalised rules could be classed as election advertising under rules applying to everyone else.
And it is.
After the Auditor General found that MPs spent $1.2 million of taxpayers money in advertisements last election, Parliament validated the spending then changed its rules to have a very narrow definition of what an election advertisement. Now most MPs' advertisements actually escape their own definition.
But the new Electoral Finance Act applying to other members of the population has a broad definition so a lot of MPs' material promoting their parties is likely to be classed as election advertising.
If Parliament's bureaucrats had not been so obliging in letting their private party secretaries authorise parliamentary literature - ie validating an otherwise invalid ad - we might have had an election this year that we should have had in 2005, with party advertising paid only by parties and not the public.
The best part of the commission's decision it that is it seeking Crown Law opinion on whether the Labour Party (tax-payer funded) balloon is an advertisement. I'll bet the poor lawyer researching that one never dreamed that that hard slog through law school would result in such, shall we say, interesting work.
The decision on the David Farrar challenge to the EPMU application will be released next week.
11:46am: The Electoral Commission is sitting today and hopefully it will make some decisions that, hopefully, will give some important guidance to parties, the public and the media about how to interpret the woefully flawed Electoral Finance Act.
A couple of weeks ago I forwarded the commission four items for them to look at, items all distributed since January 1 which I think are political advertising under the definition of the act, and which it would be helpful to know.
The challenge by David Farrar against the EPMU's application to become a registered third party will probably be decided.
Probably the most important example I have put to the commission - with a real-life example - is whether more innocuous material that points to a political party's website is itself deemed political advertising. In this case it was National's discussion document on environment policy.
I also sent them party advertising booklets produced by Act and Labour - neither of which are duly authorised by the party, and a Labour Party balloon.
The booklets and balloon were actually funded by the taxpayer through Parliament - though the Electoral Commission is blind to who funds advertising.
But if the Electoral Commission decides the material I forwarded are election ads, the MPs have found a way to get themselves off the hook in the future.
Since lodging my queries with the commission, Parliament's ever-obliging bureaucrats have agreed to help out political parties by allowing private party authorisation on publicly funded political advertising.
None of the parties Parliament are willing to fight this outrage because it is the `get-out-jail-free' clause for them. While non-parliamentary candidates have to fund their own campaigns, MPs can get their funded from their publicly funded communications budgets and Parliamentary Service will rubber stamp it so long as it doesn't say "vote for me."
National has abandoned its Opposition role to the extent that it is offering to help Labour amend some of its own silly rules - such as requiring the home address of political party financial agents.
Bill English has proposed an amendment to allow home addresses for electoral agents of parties, candidates and third parties.*
The actual commissioners are Justice Andrew McGechan, the President; Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court: Joe Williams; Secretary for Justice: Belinda Clark; and the Electoral Commission's chief executive, Dr Helena Catt.
--- I am hoping to head across the road to Backbencher pub later tonight to catch the new live show on digitial channel TVNZ 7 with a panel of back benchers, hosted by Wallace Chapman (seeing as I haven't got a Freeview box).
Tonight's line up sound like fun: it features Hone Harawira from the Maori Party; Maurice Williamson and Jacqui Dean from National (though Maurice is actually on the front bench) and Louisa Wall from Labour.
- I am hoping to head across the road to Backbencher pub later tonight to catch the new live show on digitial channel TVNZ 7 with a panel of back benchers, hosted by Wallace Chapman (seeing as I haven't got a Freeview box).
Tonight's line up sound like fun: it features Hone Harawira from the Maori Party; Maurice Williamson and Jacqui Dean from National (though Maurice is actually on the front bench) and Louisa Wall from Labour.
Harawira is in fact the Maori Party's only backbencher. With two co-leaders, Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples, and one senior whip, Te Ururoa Flavell, Hone is the back bench.
He was the only one absent from a recent dinner the leadership had with the Labour leadership.
Helen Clark hosted the party to dinner in her suite just before Easter, on March 19, the second such dinner since the 2005 election.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen was present as was Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.
Hone would apparently have been welcome if he had turned up but he had something else on.
There was nothing of note on the agenda. Labour asked the Maori Party if it had any problems with the relationship; it did not and so they simply had a nice kai together.
It's important to note these occasions and remember that Turia is a professional politician. She doesn't harbour bitterness against her Labour that would prevent them conducting a professional relationship in coalition.
I think perhaps we will never again hear Clark diss another potential partner as disparagingly as she did the Maori Party - "the last cab off the rank.'
* Sorry, I had this bit slightly wrong earlier. Thanks to those who pointed out the error.
