So who does one complain to?

Several readers have alerted me to an interesting fundraiser held on the 8th of June 2017 for Ginny Anderson’s campaign for Hutt South.

It was a whiskey tasting sessions with tables costing $700 for a table of 10. It was mainly focused on corporates.

So nothing wrong with that, except for one thing.

It was held in the Labour caucus room in Parliament.

In my 30 years of political involvement I’ve never heard of parliamentary premises being used for a campaign fundraiser.

It is absolutely common for caucus rooms and the likes to be held for meetings, conferences, policy discussions, seminars and the like. Also for functions that are free (caucus parties etc).

But I can’t ever recall a party using a caucus room as a venue for a campaign fundraiser. This is probably why attendees were explicitly told not to post any photos to social media.

The question is whether this could be a breach of the rules. But who would one complain to?

You could complain to the Prime Minister. But guess who was listed as the host of the fundraiser. One Jacinda Ardern.

Maybe one could try complaining to the Speaker. But Ardern had to pull out at the last minute, so guess who hosted it on her behalf. One Trevor Mallard.

So I guess there’s no point in doing a complaint.

But media could ask questions about whether Parliament is an appropriate venue for campaign fundraisers.