Probe into election advertising spending

The Audit Office will investigate spending by political parties on advertising in the election campaign.

The investigation follows a number of complaints during the campaign about advertising that appeared to have come from funds allocated to parties in Parliament for their leaders' budgets.

On Tuesday it was revealed that the Chief Electoral Officer, David Henry, had referred several complaints about election pamphlets and advertising to the police.

The advertising was an Exclusive Brethren leaflet attacking the Greens, Labour's pledge card and a fold-out brochure, and a suspected Brethren advertisement run in a Christchurch newspaper attacking Progressive leader Jim Anderton.

Assistant Auditor-General Robert Buchanan said the office had received a small number of complaints about spending on advertising during the period leading up to the election that might have been funded from parliamentary budgets.

He would not reveal which parties were complained about, or the identity of the complainants.

But he said the office had started investigating spending by all the parliamentary parties from their Parliamentary Service budgets in the months leading up to the election.

Labour's pledge card and the fold-out brochure both included the parliamentary crest, indicating they were paid from the leader's budget. The rules on such spending are that the advertisements must not solicit money, membership or votes.

Mr Buchanan said it was important to say that the office was still ascertaining whether any parliamentary party advertising was funded out of leaders' budgets.

In June the Auditor-General tabled a report in Parliament that examined publicly funded publicity and advertising by government departments and political parties.

The report said the office had been concerned for "some time" about weaknesses in the guidelines for such spending, and noted big growth in publicly funded parliamentary party advertising.

Mr Buchanan said the office was still awaiting information from the Parliamentary Service, and it was hoped the probe would be completed by the end of the year.

The decision to undertake the investigation was made before the September 17 election.

Labour campaigned on a policy to review the Electoral Act 1993, including issues about appropriate restrictions on electoral advertising, the boundary between promoting parties and candidates, and ceilings on advertising expenditure.

Greens co-leader Rod Donald said rules around parties' use of taxpayer funds for advertising were "riddled with inconsistencies" and needed tidying up quickly.

"Parties currently stretch the rules to breaking point and we need a system that enables parties to communicate their policies to the public. I think that's our responsibility."

Rules on political party advertising:

* If Parliamentary Service funding to a party leader's office is used, the advertising must not solicit funds, members or votes. Ads must include the parliamentary crest.

* Election advertising paid for by parties must under law include a party authorisation on the advert.