New blunder may balloon unlawful election spending to $100m

The Government has been advised that the Parliamentary Service may have made a momentous blunder in failing to get the Speaker's written authorisation for parliamentary party spending since 2000 and that virtually all of its party spending since then may have been unlawful.

The Herald understands the blunder was identified in the past few weeks by officials working on election legislation but that it is being disputed by the Parliamentary Service, the body that administers Parliament.

The matter is separate from the unlawful expenditure of just over $1 million on advertising last election, as identified by the Auditor-General, and could involve up to $100 million over the six years.

But because the retrospective legislation rushed through Parliament last week covers the Parliamentary Service's spending back to 1989, all unlawful expenditure, including any newly identified breaches, has been validated.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen refused to comment last night when asked how much had been identified in the blunder and whether that may have been the reason for urgency last week on the validation bill.

He referred the Herald to the office of the Speaker, Margaret Wilson. Ms Wilson said through a spokeswoman she had not been advised of such unlawful expenditure.

Jonathan Hunt was Speaker from 1999 until last year when Margaret Wilson took over but it is the bureaucrats who are primarily responsible for administering the acts that pertain to them. Any failure would be theirs, even though the Speaker, as Minister of the Parliamentary Service, would be responsible.

The general manager of the Parliamentary Service, Joel George, said last night in a statement that before the Parliamentary Service Act 2000, the directions on the payment of funding entitlement for parties were promulgated by the Parliamentary Service Commission, the minutes of which were reflected in the Members' Handbook of Services.

He said the handbook continued as the source of direction from the Speaker.

Mr George has been working for the past week on an interim set of rules sought by the Speaker after the Auditor-General's report on unlawful advertising expenditure.

The rules are expected to be discussed today at a meeting of the Parliamentary Service Commission.

National is set to resist any move that sees the Parliamentary Service having to pre-approve expenditure, one of the options suggested last week by the service. But that may be the precursor to a regime that eventually gives parties greater control over their own spending through bulk funding.

All parties except New Zealand First have agreed to pay the Parliamentary Service the amount identified as unlawfully spent.

Dr Cullen yesterday accepted that Labour's popularity had been affected by the election spending saga, after a Colmar Brunton poll showed a 13-point gap between Labour and National.