English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:634;Page:5544] 
4.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Minister of Justice 
: What options has the Ministry of Justice proposed in relation to election law reform and have these been considered by the Cabinet? 
Hon MARK BURTON (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 As I have informed the House on previous occasions I am undertaking a review of the electoral finance regime focusing on electoral expenses advertising and broadcasting. I have not yet put advice to Cabinet. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister aware that regardless of what findings the Auditor-General makes regarding the pledge card funding the Chief Electoral Officer advised the Labour Party before the election that the pledge card counted as electioneering regardless of who funded it and therefore Labour exceeded the campaign expenses limit set by section 214B of the Electoral Act? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: As I have previously also informed the House it would be inappropriate for me to comment on what are any legal interpretations made by the Chief Electoral Officer in the course of his duties under the Electoral Act 1993. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister aware that his Cabinet colleague the Hon Pete Hodgson agreed with the view held by the Chief Electoral Officer that the pledge card counted as a campaign expense—and therefore Labour exceeded the limit on campaign expenses—when Mr Hodgson said: “the public would say that it is clearly for political purposes … of course it is … If it wasn’t we would put out a pledge card the day after the election not before it.”; and when is his party going to start keeping the law instead of trying to change it? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: As to the latter I say to Mr English that it is Parliament that makes and changes law; as to the former no I am not aware that that is my colleague Mr Hodgson’s view. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister concerned that when Pete Hodgson said publicly in the  
Sunday Star-Times  
that the pledge card was electioneering he directly contradicted what Labour Party officials told the police when they said that the pledge card was normal parliamentary activity? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: I am not aware that the comment the member refers to is an accurate reflection of any comment my colleague made. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister think of any change to the law that would prevent abuse of it by a Minister who says the pledge card was electioneering by party officials who told the police the opposite—when they said the pledge card was normal parliamentary activity—and by a governing party that blatantly exceeded the campaign expense limit by almost half a million dollars and seems to feel pleased it got away with it? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: I can think of a number of things that could be done with electoral law to prevent the hiding and channelling of vast amounts of money through mates’ trust accounts. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Has the Minister seen any reports indicating any substantive difference in type and nature between the pledge card put out by Labour and the pledge advertisement put out by the National Party when Bill English was leader—except of course that we intended to keep our pledges? 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: Save the fact that indeed the Labour Party intended to keep both its pledges and its leader I can see no real difference.