National MP David MacLeod ‘hugely relieved’ after police take no action over election donations disclosure lapse

National MP David MacLeod says he is “hugely relieved” by the police decision not to take any action over his failure to declare more than $178,000 in donations before the last election.

The Electoral Commission referred the issue to police to investigate in June after MacLeod initially failed to declare the donations in his 2023 return, something he said was “a genuine mistake”.

Police have decided not to take any further action against the New Plymouth MP over it. MacLeod had amended his return in May to include the missing donations after the National Party discovered they had not been disclosed during post-election checks.

MacLeod told the NZ Herald it was the result of a genuine mistake and he had addressed it once it was discovered.

He said it was understandable the Electoral Commission had taken the issue seriously and referred it to police, who are responsible for investigating and prosecuting electoral law breaches.

“I’m just feeling hugely relieved that it is not being taken any further.”

He was now hoping to be taken off “the naughty boys’ bench” and given more duties at Parliament.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had stripped MacLeod of his environment and finance and expenditure select committee roles because of the lapse, saying he had failed “to meet the high standards we expect of our MPs”.

MacLeod said he expected discussions would be had soon about his future prospects.

“Clearly, MPs want to be in the House and contribute in some way and a lot of that contribution is done via select committees. So I’ll be interested to see where I can slot back into the system. I’ve been sitting on the naughty boys’ bench, I’ve had the yellow card against me for a while now and now I just want to get back out on the field and contribute.”

It is an offence under electoral laws to file a late return or a return that is false.

If convicted, the penalty is a maximum of two years in prison or a maximum fine of $100,000 if it is found to be a “corrupt practice” and the candidate knew it was false. If the candidate can prove there was no intention to misstate the facts and they took all reasonable steps to ensure it was accurate it could be an “illegal practice” which carries a lower penalty of a fine of up to $40,000.

MacLeod’s original candidate return for the 2023 general election was filed on February 13 this year and included $29,268 from seven separate donors.

On May 20, the commission received an amended return, which listed total donations of $207,662 from 24 separate donors.

At the time, MacLeod said he had thought the missing donations, most of which were received in 2022, had already been disclosed. Candidates are only required to make disclosures in election years, but those must include all donations they received for their campaigns, regardless of the year they were received.

Claire Trevett is the NZ Herald’s political editor, based at Parliament in Wellington. She started at the NZ Herald in 2003 and joined the Press Gallery team in 2007. She is a life member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery.