Azaria Howell: Newstalk ZB reporter on the investigation into National MP Carl Bates

An inquiry's being held into whether the MP for Whanganui has complied with his obligations to declare interests.

National's Carl Bates didn't disclose 25 properties, linked to his family trust, many of which are rentals in the area.

They weren't declared on Parliament's list of MP's property and financial interests.

Newstalk ZB reporter Azaria Howell unpacked the investigation further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sorry, how with us at sixteen to five Zaria, Good afternoon,
Good afternoon. So we got a parliamentary watchdog now investigating
col Bates. This is the Pongui MP over the rentals.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah, so Parliament is investigating national MP Calbates, as you say,
over whether or not he complied with requirements to declare investments.
So Carl Bates listed properties he owned and also trust
he was a beneficiary of, and through those trusts, the
MP four Wonganui was linked to twenty five homes, most
of which rental properties in the local area. So trust

(00:33):
linked to the MP and his family owned twenty five
properties which are not disclosed on Parliament's list of MP's
property and financial interests, and that was first reported two
weeks ago. Well at the time the story broke, Bates
told The Herald that when he moved into politics, he
left his business to focus on being an MP, which
included selling businesses and moving away from involvement in the

(00:56):
family property portfolio. And he said, quote, as a discretionary
beneficiary of a family trust which has an interest in
a property portfolio, I have no involvement in it or
its interests, as is common for family trusts, and he's
also said at the time that he met with the
Registrar of Pecuniary Interests in advance of filing his return

(01:18):
to make sure that he would be declaring everything that
was required of him. Since that story has broke, however,
Labor MP Glenn Bennett wrote to the Registrar asking them
to determine whether an inquiry was warranted, and that answer
is yes, the Registrar has determined that an inquiry is
warranted and will be undertaken. I mean this comes after

(01:39):
a preliminary review from the Registrar which took into account
the degree of importance and whether or not it could
be seen as a breach of the obligations. At the
time the story first came out, Bates said that the
Registrar had actually advised him that property held in a
company whose shares are held by a trust was in
fact not required to be declared. Also, looking at the

(02:01):
standing orders, the Registrar must invite the member who's subject
of the inquiry to respond within ten working days. Standing
orders though, also do mean that Kyle Bates is unable
to comment on this inquiry to the media.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Do you know?

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Does anyone know yet? Because he said he met with
the registrar to fill out and find out what he
needed to declare. Did he tell them at that point
that he had this interest in the twenty five rental properties?
Do we know that fact?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
I don't think we know for a fact, but I
mean it is worth noting that at the time, Cayl
Bates said, the registrar advised him that property held in
a company who shares a help by trust was not
required to be declared. So it's not one hundred percent
clear in terms of that situation.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
That would seem to imply he did. But anyway, we
will move on to the electoral law changes. As a
four year term. We got submissions being heard. What are
they saying?

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, So in terms of this bill, we'll just go
into what those changes are. Enrollment were close thirteen days
before election day, twelve days of advanced voting, the prisoner
voting ban set to come back, and a new offense
as well for prohibiting free food, drink or entertainment within
one hundred meters of a polling place. So Chief Human

(03:13):
Rights Commissioner Stephen Rainbow, who was actually appointed by the
Justice Minister who's in charge of this bill, Paul Goldsmith
told the Justice Select Committee the agency opposes both the
end to same day enrollment and the ban on prisoner voting,
so he suggested that the changes around same day enrollment
would make it more difficult for younger voters.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
The changes that are proposed reverse a long term trend
of making it more easy for people to vote.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
And he's also saying there will be broader implications and
says there are really wider societal concerns.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Measures that restrict access to voting, particularly for young people,
risk deepening the distrust in our democracy. And I want
to be quite explicit at this point, Committee members, this
is not just about democracy for democracy sake. Democracy is
the best safeguard for human rights.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
So some quite strong words on this one from a
senior official, and also the Law Society has spoken a
bit about the changes to prisoner voting. Have a listen
to this one.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
The band would also place New Zealand out of step
with Australia, Canada, Scotland, South Africa and nearly all EU
member states which allow at least some people in prison
to vote, if not all.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
And we've also been hearing from the Electoral Commission which
has confirmed it does not expect the changes to make
vote counting any faster, So while it doesn't look like
it will materially reduce the time it takes to count
those votes, it does, though, mean the time doesn't blow
out significantly or will get much worse. So there'll be
a select Committee report and further votes on the bill.

(04:49):
It does seem quite contentious at the.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Moment, absolutely, Zari, Thank you for that. Zara Howse, senior
political reporter at Newstalk CBS.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
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