Police dragged into election spending row

Don Brash

National Party leader Don Brash has been accused of intimidating police after writing to them to complain about "glaring inadequacies" in its inquiry into Labour Party election spending

In a letter to Police Commissioner Howard Broad, Dr Brash - who has accused Labour of corruption - said the police had failed to live up to the public's expectations in its investigation.

But Police Minister Annette King said the letter amounted to initimidation of the police and this was a breach of the convention that politicians kept out of police decisions about who should be prosecuted.

She said Dr Brash's attack was taking New Zealand on a dangerous path -- "down the road of a police state".

National claims Labour could owe more than $800,000, most of it from its $447,000 pledge card.

Dr Brash said National could not understand how the police failed to prosecute Labour when the party had admitted the pledge card was electioneering.

In his letter to police, he claimed:
* Failure by police to understand the Electoral Act
* Failure to take Crown Law advice
* Failure to prosecute Labour
* Failure to deal adequately with former Chief Electoral Officer David Henry's concerns.

"Having carefully considered the material obtained about the investigation, it is my view that questions remain of such seriousness that they challenge National's ability to retain confidence in the police," he said.

He defended the unusual step of criticising the police in his letter to Mr Broad, saying information National obtained under the Official Information Act with legal papers and Mr Brady's draft report compelled him to speak out.

'Great reluctance'

Dr Brash said he wrote with "great reluctance" because he and his party respected the police.

Ms King said the Labour Party could also have taken issue with the police not prosecuting National over its breach of spending limits, but had accepted the decision.

She said she had total confidence in the police and their integrity in making prosecution decisions and Dr Brash should pull back from his attack.

Auditor-General Kevin Brady is to release his final report into election spending next week. A draft report found seven of Parliament's eight political parties spent taxpayer funds illegally.

National and the Maori Party have already paid back money and the Greens have promised to do so, but Labour has resisted calls, claiming Mr Brady's ruling is inconsistent with his treatment of the 2002 election.

Dr Brash said comments made by police national manager of crime services Detective Inspector Harry Quinn, that the law was unclear and he was concerned action would impact on the integrity of the election, suggested police wanted to avoid a prosecution that would potentially damage Labour.

This latest stirring of the election spending row follows Prime Minister Helen Clark earlier announcing funding rules would be overhauled.

Labour has accused National of getting support from the Exclusive Brethren who paid for supporting advertisements and it also wants to make donations public.

A spokesman for Police National Headquarters said the letter had been received and it was being considered. There would be no response today.

- NZPA