PM surprised by Auditor-General's spending comments

Prime Minister Helen Clark today said she was surprised by Auditor-General Kevin Brady's comments on election spending.

The Herald reported today that Mr Brady says he forewarned political parties in a report last year to be careful with their spending on the campaign.

Helen Clark said she was surprised he commented when he was still finalising his report, but would not say whether it was appropriate for him to give an interview.

She said the key point she took from Mr Brady's report last year was that the rules needed to be sorted out in the future.

"The Auditor-General has always said rules needed to be sorted out for the future. People play by the rules of the game. This has not been questioned before, now it is," she said.

She repeated her view that Mr Brady's report appeared to be changing the accepted rules retrospectively.

"It's appropriate to say to people to be careful about their spending, but when parties are spending exactly in the same way within the same rules they've always understood, it's to be expected that people will be a little surprised after the event when its suggested the rules should be different from what they always have been."

Labour had made a submission on the draft report and was now awaiting the final report, she said.

- NZPA