Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

How many faux pas can one Government make in an election year?? Labour's latest misstep is using a stock photo from an American website to illustrate a "happy New Zealand family" after this year's budget.

The Labour Party is refusing to say how much the pamphlet cost to produce and distribute to New Zealand households. It gives details of Cullen's tax cuts and his new train set, as well as information about increase in "Working for Families" welfare payments and other services.

The glossy brochures have been paid for out of taxpayer funds, through Parliamentary Services. However they're likely to be counted as "election advertising" and possibly a "donation" under Labour's flawed Electoral Finance Act, and so will have to be included in the party's $2.4 million spending cap.

Rod Emmerson Cartoon: Why are these people smiling?