Labour leaflet raises another EFA challenge

National is filing yet another complaint against Labour, saying it has breached the Electoral Finance Act.

Yesterday Labour faced some embarrassment when it turned out the family used in a leaflet explaining what Labour's budget policy "means for you" is part-Hispanic and from the United States, not New Zealand.

The leaflet is funded from the Parliamentary Service budget and as it is authorised by the party would have to be declared against the election spending cap under the Electoral Finance Act (EFA).

National Party Deputy Leader Bill English said Prime Minister Helen Clark's office may be in breach of the EFA over the production and distribution of the leaflet.

"Comments made by Labour to the media confirm the controversial election advertisement was entirely the work of the Labour leader's office," Mr English said.

"That means the Labour leader's office has become a separate promoter of election advertisements and should be registered as a third party."

Mr English said he would be writing to the Electoral Commission as anyone who intends to spend more than $12,000 in election year to promote a particular party has to register as a third party.

"Helen Clark's leader's office is not exempt."

The National Party recently took legal action against the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, saying it could not register as a third party and campaign as it was too closely linked to the Labour Party.

Mr English said after the last election when Labour was dealing with the police over the pledge card spending there was a distinction between being the prime minister and the prime minister's office.

"They made that distinction," Mr English said.

He said the law was absurd.

"You have these third party rules and no one knows what they mean, so we are saying it has to be tested, as does the union matter."

The leaflet has created another legal uncertainty with one expert on the EFA, Graeme Edgeler, questioning whether the payment from Parliamentary Services for the leaflet should be treated as a donation.

Mr Edgeler told NZPA that it was a grey area, it could be that the initial payment to the parliamentary wing of the Labour Party was a donation; or the gift of the parliamentary wing of the leaflet to the wider party could be a donation.

Mr Edgeler agreed it might seem strange that a payment that had to be made by law could be treated as a donation, but it was certainly an idea that could be tested.