Party of Principle
Congratulations to Don Brash and the National Party. Prevented by law to pay it's accidental advertising overspend it now has proposed amending the law so it can.
So far the party has owned up to its mistake, offered to make payment and plead guilty if charged. You can't help making a contrast in attitude with another party that broke the law.
And yes, ACT should repay the money spent on the newspaper advertising during the election.
So far the party has owned up to its mistake, offered to make payment and plead guilty if charged. You can't help making a contrast in attitude with another party that broke the law.
And yes, ACT should repay the money spent on the newspaper advertising during the election.
posted by Michael at
1:38 PM
2 Comments:
Party of Principle? I think not. They owe the money so they should pay it. In fact they should have paid it months ago. How long ago was the election? They must surely also now owe interest on the outstanding accounts. They should pay up. If this breaks the electoral law then they need to face their crime and also pay a fine for this rather than try to avoid it by changing the law and presumeably making it retrospective. what a cop out if they get away with this by changing the law. Only in politics could this happen!
Brash has already admitted their guilt on this matter so let's get on and deal with it.
By
steven, at 11:57 PM
Under the existing law as it stands, they have no way of paying the outstanding debts. The Party arranges the advertising but the Electoral Commission's broadcasting agency pays the invoices. It is currently illegal to make a payment direct to the broadcasters. (However it is equally illegal to give a discount on the advertising, which is effectively what National have got.)
The way the law change is drafted it would make it possible to pay the broadcasters via the electoral
And as to the breaking of the Broadcasting Act - National would have pleaded guilty and paid the fine if charged. The Police decided not to charge anyone as they couldn't find the exact person who'd stuffed up - although I would've thought they should have charged Judy Kirk.
It's also worth pointing out that National got a much smaller broadcasting allocation than Labour at the last election.
By
Michael, at 8:33 PM
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