National backs down over videos
The National Party has backed down in its weeks-long fight with the Speaker over the use of parliamentary TV footage for attack ads.
National leader Simon Bridges announced yesterday afternoon the party would delete a series of videos ruled out of order by Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard, and work to change the rules so they would be allowed.
The videos made mocking use of footage of Labour MP Deborah Russell without her permission, a technical breach of the current rules for edited parliamentary TV footage used in advertisements.
Both the Speaker and National have expressed a willingness to change the rules to allow said footage to be used in ads without the permission of the person speaking, despite the fact the current rules were agreed to when National were last in Government in 2017.
When the Speaker first made the ruling, National argued its videos were not in fact advertisements so were not in breach.
All 55 MPs uploaded a copy of the video in question to make the point more forcefully, noting that Labour MPs had produced similar footage during their terms of government.
After a two-week recess Mallard announced Bridges’ supplementary questions would be limited as punishment for the breach.
Meanwhile the standing orders committee, which sets the rules, has urgently sought to review the rules around parliamentary TV footage.
On Thursday, they heard from the parliamentary press gallery and public law experts Graeme Edgeler and Andrew Geddis.
Bridges said the Speaker had given him assurances this process would be wrapped up by early next month. Bridges had earlier speculated that the review could take ‘‘months’’ and was thus unacceptable.
‘‘We have agreed that it is in the interest of good parliamentary order for the issues surrounding the use of Parliament Television, as in appendix D of the standing orders, to be modernised as quickly as possible,’’ Bridges said.
‘‘The Speaker, in his capacity as chair of the standing orders committee, has indicated the work of the standing orders committee would progress more quickly and effectively if the videos deemed to be advertising were taken down.
‘‘We have agreed to that action and are encouraged by the timeline for resolution of these matters which should be concluded by early November.’’
The videos were to be deleted by 5pm yesterday.
Mallard welcomed the news and said it removed a key impediment to a speedy resolution of the issue.
‘‘A standoff between the leader of a major party and the Speaker is not healthy and I am pleased it has been resolved,’’ Mallard said.