LAST NIGHT’S interview with the Prime Minister on ALT TV was broadcast after the hoardings come down - but television news and current affairs were given the all-clear by the Electoral Commission.
 
Let’s Be Frank host Oliver Driver (right) had no idea whether broadcasting his interview with the PM after 8pm the night before election day would fall foul of the Electoral Act, and the possibility of any legal ramifications had not occurred to him, he says.

He had no ethical concerns about airing a one-on-one interview with the Prime Minister the night before the election: “Our thinking was that it would be a good event,” he said. “It could be her last interview [as Prime Minister].”

The Electoral Commission confirmed that the interview would not breach the Electoral Act as it was a news or current affairs programme. Other media can be caught by a ban on material that influences voter behaviour.

When asked if he used the National Business Review and Tumeke blog to try and avoid breaching the act, Mr Driver admitted: “We’re not that clever.”

The interview was simulcast at 8pm last night on SKY TV’s channel 65 and on-line at alttv.co.nz/LIVE.