Headline: Democracy is not for sale
Labour’s Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford has proposed an amendment to local body law that would substantially cut the campaign spending limit for the Auckland mayoralty.
The amendment, due to be debated today in Parliament, would reduce the amount Auckland mayoral candidates can spend from $610,000 to $376,000 during the last three months of the campaign.
“Democracy should not be for sale to the highest bidder. The current limit of $610,000 is so high that it risks deterring any candidates who don’t have deep pockets.
“While an election in a city the size of Auckland can’t be run on a shoestring, we need to find a balance that also ensures the mayoralty cannot just be bought by a wealthy candidate.
“My amendment would deliver a spending limit approximately equal to the total of all the spending limits of the old Councils that were in place before the Super City.
“The spending cap put in place at the time the Super City was established was way too high. I note that both the candidates in the last mayoral race argued for a much lower limit. John Banks proposed a limit of $100,000. Len Brown argued for $150-200,000.
“The amendment would revise a formula in the Act that would not affect any other New Zealand cities. While Auckland’s current spending cap is $610,000, no other city has a cap more than $70,000,” said Phil Twyford.
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