ASA partly upholds complaint against 'misleading' National attack ad
New Zealand's Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a National Party attack ad regarding capital gains tax was misleading. The party has been ordered to stop using the ad in its current form.
Why it matters
The ruling highlights the role of regulatory bodies in maintaining truth in political advertising during election cycles.
The Advertising Standards Authority has partly upheld a complaint against a National Party attack ad, and told the party not to use it again in its current form.
The complaint focused around National's criticisms of Labour's capital gains tax (CGT) policy.
A complainant told the ASA that in July they had received a flyer promoting Chris Bishop as the National Party candidate for Hutt South, as well as general National Party election campaign material.
A section called 'Keeping Taxes Low', the complainant said, had a statement about what was at risk.
"Labour's capital gains tax would hit the family bach, rentals, small businesses and KiwiSaver," the flyer said.
Labour has maintained KiwiSaver is exempt from its CGT proposal, which is designed to cover commercial property and residential investment property only.
The family home (including lifestyle blocks), farms, inheritances, shares, businesses, and other commercial items are also exempt.
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