Swing and a miss for David Farrar – Campaign For Change wasn’t illegal
David Farrar is the Government’s pollster and less rabid attack dog for the Right. National are doing so bad at the moment in the internal polls that he’s no longer making his available to the public.
He made a complaint to the Electoral Commission over Matt McCarten’s Campaign for Change and they’ve just come back with their ruling and it turns out the Campaign for Change was within the law…
The Electoral Commission says funds spent on the Campaign for Change were candidate donations and will need to be declared in candidate returns after the election.
On 28 June 2017 the Electoral Commission received a complaint from David Farrar regarding the election expense and donations implications of the Campaign for Change run by Matt McCarten.
The Electoral Commission has looked into the matters raised and sought information about the campaign from Matt McCarten and Andrew Kirton, the General Secretary of the New Zealand Labour Party.
Mr McCarten has confirmed that he personally paid for costs associated with the campaign and spent $65,095 up to the point at which the Labour Party stepped in to take over on 23 June. Based on the information provided, the Electoral Commission has concluded that by personally paying for costs in support of the efforts of volunteers campaigning for Auckland Labour Party candidates, Mr McCarten made candidate donations for the purposes of the Electoral Act.
Mr McCarten has agreed to provide further information about the exact share of the Auckland candidates involved from the $65,095 total. Once the amounts are determined, he will make each candidate aware of the amount that he has donated to them so that they can record those amounts for their donations compliance and disclosure in January 2018.
Mr McCarten has advised that no printed materials and no other election advertising materials were produced by Campaign for Change in support of the Labour Party or candidates. The expenses involved in the Campaign for Change were costs of accommodation, food and transport which are not by definition election expenses. Election expenses are defined as costs incurred preparing and publishing election advertisements published during the regulated period. On this basis, the Commission has concluded that no election expenses were involved.
…so Matt McCarten didn’t need to be shot in the face and left to wing in the wind after all?
One thing you can say about the Right is that they always look after their own when their own stumble. The Left however has this habit of discarding those who stumble like used condoms at a Catholic Church.
I hope this ruling gives Matt some piece of mind.
+1 Martyn.
Weak little b****s cheeky enough to have a crack at McCarten over this. When is encouging youth to vote ever bad?
Better ask yourselves
Yes Martyn, – David Farrar is a slimeball alright.
Matt was trying his best alright, and it was sorry to see the way he was treated.
Under jacinda he would have been treated better we assume.
I love the part about the used condom at a Catholic Church, very chic I giggled at that.
e national poling lousy so he has not shared them now.
National are now throwing all the money at us as tonight they are raising the paid Maturity leave from 18 weeks to 20 weeks in the next year 2018 and 22 weeks the year after 2019.
Pork barrel politics again eh?