The Labour Party is demanding that Finance Minister Bill English come clean about details surrounding his involvement in a television promo screening on Television New Zealand.
Labour says the promo for a TVNZ 7 economy series featuring Mr English looks and sounds like a party political broadcast.
Mr English is shown on the state broadcaster channel talking about emerging from the recession and improving economic productivity.
Labour is calling on Mr English to reveal the full extent to which he or his office were involved in the production of the promo.
Labour says the advert was so blatantly self-promoting, it is hard to believe that a credible national broadcaster would come up with the concept itself.
In Parliament on Tuesday, Labour asked if Mr English used his influence as a shareholding minister in TVNZ to promote himself and the National Party by appearing in the promo.
However, a spokesperson for Mr English says TVNZ approached the minister. A script was sent to his office and he says no significant changes were made.
TVNZ has received one formal complaint that the promo is unbalanced. It will continue to screen the advertisement for the next three weeks, saying the programmes being promoted contain a diverse range of views.
