Unacceptable

2012 political party donation returns were released yesterday, and while I glanced over them, I didn't think there was anything unusual: the Greens were funded by MP's tithes, Labour got a large bequest, and National was funded by property developers and a foreign corporation laundering its donations through an NZ front. It took DPF's sharp eyes to notice the problem: Labour had hidden a $430,000 donation for a year:

Donations over $15,000 only have to be disclosed annually, but donations over $30,000 must be disclosed within 10 working days of receipt.

Labour’s return shows they received $430,259.33 from the estate of Brian Dalley (ironically a professional property investor who made his riches from capital gains) between April and July 2012. They were required to disclose this to the Electoral Commission within 10 working days, but the Commissions say they were only notified on 9 May 2013. Their disclosure is 12 months late.

The penalty for failing to comply with s210C without reasonable excuse is a $40,000 fine. Labour needs to tell us why they were so slack about complying with their legal obligations. And if their reason isn't good enough, they need to be prosecuted. The integrity of our electoral system depends on it.

Update: According to NewstalkZB's Felix Marwick, the Electoral Commission has accepted Labour's excuse of "confusion as to whether a bequest counts as a donation" and there will be no referral to police. So the law means nothing again. What is the point of electoral law if it is never enforced?