Top official won't say if politicians should stay out of government ads

'Blanket rules' unhelpful, says public service commissioner Peter Hughes. (Image: Getty)

Mon, 12 Sep 2022

The government’s top official – and the guardian of public service integrity – is not ruling out that there could be circumstances when it's okay for politicians to appear in government advertising.Public service commissioner Peter Hughes is considering a National party complaint that the Waka Kotahi transport agency (NZTA) breached political neutrality rules when it used local government politicians from Labour and the Greens to appear in some of its Facebook advertising.The agency took the position that the ads were appr...

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