Finlayson Christopher: Member Vacancy — Epsom Electoral District—Hon John BanksText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFinlayson Christopher: Member Vacancy — Epsom Electoral District—Hon John Banks[Sitting date: 18 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18649. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General):I just want to take a brief call because some very serious allegations have been made about the course of this prosecution and I think it is incumbent on me as the senior law officer of the Crown to make a few comments about that because they are serious allegations and this is a very serious matter. I support the motion for all the reasons that other members have referred to. We are very close to a general election. By-elections cost a great deal of money. For example the Te Tai Tokerau one a couple of years ago is an example of where someone put the State to a lot of money to prove some principle to himself but not many other people.I too want to say something about Mr Banks. I wish him all the best for the future. It has been a humiliating period for him made doubly worse this afternoon I am sure by the prospect of him having to listen to and be lectured on bad judgment by someone like Mr Mallard whose entire career or indeed entire life has been characterised by misjudgments. That is the person who was convicted of common assault for I think it was said to be punching Mr Henare in the House but my understanding was that it was more a sort of adolescent slap. But be that as it may it was one of a number of convictions—Hon Trevor Mallard: He went down.Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: His head went down—oh yeah right! This is the person who used to do girly weights at Bodyworks with Chris Carter lecturing people on manliness. Oh he is back—he is back.Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I did do weights occasionally but I did not get my trainer to carry my drink bottle and towel like that member did.Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: I will have a bicep competition with that member any day.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): I am sure that will read well in Hansard.Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Anyway getting away from Mr Mallard’s lack of biceps and coming to the real issue I think we need to take the House very carefully through what happened in the course of this matter. First an important starting point as the member for Rongotai Annette King will know is the Policing Act which she was responsible for when she was Minister of Police and section 16(2). It makes it very clear—very clear—that the commissioner must act independently of any Minister of the Crown in relation to the enforcement of the law in any particular instance in particular in the investigation and the prosecution of offences. The law makes it clear that these cannot be political decisions. Some of the allegations that have been made over the last few weeks have suggested that it has got close to a political decision which is a grotesque allegation in our democracy.So what happened was that a complaint was laid with the police regarding Mr Banks’ electoral return. The police investigated and in July 2012 they concluded that there was insufficient evidence to consider a prosecution under the Local Electoral Act 2001. Then Mr McCready brought a private prosecution in the Wellington District Court after the police decided not to press charges. This private prosecution was brought by Mr McCready. It came before a number of judges including Judge Gittos who decided that there was sufficient evidence to commit Mr Banks to trial and then the Solicitor-General the junior law officer of the Crown—utterly independently of anything to do with me—took over the prosecution and instructed an independent Queen’s Counsel to conduct the prosecution. The key point is that at each juncture the justice system has worked according to proper process.That is all that can be said because the decision in relation to the police is before Sir David Carruthers and I would caution members not to get too far into that material. But I thought that given some of the frankly scurrilous allegations that have been made about political interference and so on it was important to bring those salient matters to the attention of the House. It could well be that there should be a mature discussion next year in the context of the review of the electoral laws about whether or not there should be an independent political prosecutor.I would be very keen to engage in that discussion with the Labour Party members but I would say to them with respect and affection to be careful what you wish for. Because for example in 2006 the police investigated the Labour Party’s pledge card and leaflet and established that there was sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case in relation to an offence under the Electoral Act but they let the party off with a warning. In 2008 the police investigated a Labour Party pamphlet that was found by the Electoral Commission to breach the Electoral Act. They exercised their discretion and did not bring charges. In 2011 the Electoral Commission again referred the Labour Party’s electoral propaganda to the police and Mr Robertson said the party had taken the view that the flyer was not an election advertisement. In 2011 the Labour campaign manager and former Minister Jim Anderton was referred to the police by the Electoral Commission. The police exercised their discretion and no charges were laid. In 2013 the Labour leader David Cunliffe decided to test the law by tweeting an encouragement to vote on the day of a by-election. No charges were laid despite Mr Cunliffe’s admission of responsibility and an apology.I have to say I have got no particular problem with any of those decisions. The police were operating independently. They looked at the matter exercised discretion and decided not to prosecute. Last year again—and this was not an Electoral Act matter—Mr Goff breached a suppression order in a coronial inquiry. He was let off with a warning although other citizens have been prosecuted for doing exactly the same thing. And of course I say to Holly Walker there is Jolyon White the social justice coordinator for the Anglican diocese in Christchurch who was investigated. It still remains an open investigation so one should be careful with what one says about vandalising all the National Party billboards and breaching the Electoral Act. The police are independently looking at that matter without fear or favour.So maybe we do need to have a discussion about an independent electoral prosecutor. As I said if I am privileged enough to be back here after 20 September I certainly would contend for that. But I would say to the Labour Party to be very very careful. Be careful what you wish for because that party’s record is not all that flash. There is one party whose name is constantly being referred to the police for breaches of the Electoral Act and that is the Labour Party. I remind the House that it was a Labour candidate Mr Singh who was sentenced earlier this year for his involvement in a case of electoral fraud where unbelievably he registered 51 votes at the same address in the 2010 super-city elections. Of course we all know about Mr Phillip Field but out of compassion and charity I am not going to say anything about him. He has left this place. He cannot answer for himself here and I think that some of the purple prose placed in the direction of Mr Banks this afternoon was pretty unfortunate to say the least.So let us have that discussion next year. These are important issues. Let us have a principled discussion over these things in the context of the Electoral Act. I simply say to the Labour Party that it is time to get off the flea-bitten old nag because when all is said and done it is that party whose record over the years has caused so many complaints to the police.