Summarised by Centrist
Political donations in New Zealand surged in 2023, with the six parties in Parliament raising almost $25m, nearly triple the amount declared in 2017. It’s not so much that the parties are getting more, but that new reporting rules require them to say more about what they’re getting.
These rules require parties to disclose smaller donations and name any donor giving $5000 or more.
The changes revealed previously hidden funds, showing that National outperformed Labour in small donations, with about $4m from 44,000 donations under $1500.
The new transparency rules also exposed that Labour MPs contribute part of their salaries to the party in a fashion similar to the Greens.
Major donors include Warren Lewis, who gave National $500,000, the largest single donation since 2014. Notably, the biggest one-off donation to any party from a party member came from Te Pāti Māori party president John Tamihere, who donated $50,000 to Te Pāti Māori.
Overall, right-leaning parties (National, ACT, NZ First) receive about twice as much donation cash as left-leaning parties (Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori) .
Critics argue that these large donations create unequal influence and suggest imposing donation caps, similar to Canada and Ireland, to ensure a more democratic process.
Editor’s note: In our view, donations do not directly equal influence. It’s more likely that wealthy people support party policies they agree with. There is not a lot of evidence of backroom dealing between wealthy donors and politicians as some commentators may suggest.
