Dr Bryce Edwards’ NZ Politics Daily Political Roundup: Wouldn’t it be great if political parties opened their books

4
387
An unusual thing happened on Friday, when the National Party proactively released public information about financial donations it had just received. The party declared that its former deputy leader Paula Bennett had just raised $1.8 million dollars in donations from a handful of wealthy supporters. And she had raised the money in just three weeks. One donation of $250,000 was from New Zealand’s wealthiest man, Graeme Hart.

The unusual part was that the party was releasing the details of the large donations publicly and early, instead of just leaving it to be silently added to the register at a later date on the Electoral Commission website, which would be picked up by the media later down the track.

Normally parties are keen to downplay large donations from the rich. With public suspicions that political parties are beholden to and even corrupted by large donations, there is a reluctance to allow this information to be publicised.

National going on the front foot and publicising their windfall involved a large element of bragging and gamesmanship. National got to reiterate to the public that they are competitive again, after years of waning confidence in the party. Here was a concrete sign that they were being endorsed and would be in a strong state to fight next year’s election.

Of course, the information was going to be made public anyhow. The Electoral Act 1993 states that any donations of $30,000 or over have to be declared to the Electoral Commission within ten working days of their receipt. (And although Bennett had been promised the donations, National hadn’t actually received the donations until recently.)

So National made a virtue of declaring something that they had to make public anyhow. Party President Peter Goodfellow explained that donors were being “open and transparent” and National wanted “to be upfront about this too, which is why we’re proactively releasing this information.” Reporting on this, journalist Thomas Coughlan pondered whether the party was being “mindful of donations scandals that cast a pall over much of the last parliamentary term”.

Political parties should open their books

Nonetheless, the proactive declaration by National raises the question of whether all political parties should be much more transparent and go the whole hog and just open their books for the public to see how they get their money. At the moment, we only get glimpses of how parties are funded, and there are ongoing suspicions that much party fundraising is structured in ways that circumvents disclosure.

After all, we currently have three of the largest political parties – National, Labour and New Zealand First – all involved in court prosecutions over donations they have received. And Te Pāti Māori is currently being investigated by police over $320,000 in undeclared donations. Controversies over allegedly hidden donations have cast a shadow on the integrity of all political parties.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

If parties were to open their books to the public this could be done on a voluntary basis, or could even be a requirement of registration with the Electoral Commission, which allows a party to compete for the party vote in elections. Such a move of radical transparency would allow the public to have much more confidence in the integrity of the political process.

Of course, the Minister of Justice is currently undertaking a review of political finance law, with the stated desire to make donations more transparent. But it’s hard to have much confidence in this leading to any significant improvements. When it was announced last year, the reaction from experts was sceptical, with the view that the status quo and vested interests would be protected by the review. And the policy options being explored didn’t seem very impressive. There is certainly nothing on the table as radical as having the parties open their books to the public.

There is a public interest in political parties being much more upfront about their monies. There’s a perception that all is not well in this area, and that large donations are having an untoward impact on politicians. As always, those donating are likely to support policies and parties that retain and enhance their privileged position.

On Friday rightwing political commentator Matthew Hooton made a call for more transparency of donations in his weekly Herald column. He suggested that foreign interests could be influencing our parties, as happens elsewhere in the world. He points out, for example, that the usually anti-free-trade New Zealand First party was unusually pro-Trade when it got into Government in 2017: “It has never been adequately explained why NZ First was so keen on a free-trade agreement with Russia and Belarus — at odds with its usual mercantilist stance — that it demanded Labour write it into the 2017 coalition agreement.”

Hooton calls for much more openness from our parties: “it’s not unreasonable to demand that all parties provide transparency over their campaign donations, policy-writing processes and candidate selections”.

The influence of wealth on policies

The Labour Party has reacted to National’s windfall by using it as leverage in their own donations drive with party members and supporters. Labour’s general secretary Rob Salmond emailed those on the party database to say the latest $1.8 million to National was “worrying”, and urged supporters to donate to help match National.

Labour will inevitably also be carrying out more fundraising events to try to bring in some big money. Last year the party was utilising “cash for access” meetings in which “interactive sessions” with the top ministers and the prime minister were sold for over $2000 a ticket.

More recently the party has continued to sell such access to Cabinet Ministers, but at a lower price, and tailored for the Covid age – Zoom meetings with policymakers, with ticket prices of only $25. But we can expect Labour to up its game in the race for greater business funding to match National.

Meanwhile, Act has also been highly successful in raising significant amounts in donations from the rich. In March it declared that it had raised $850,000 from a number of donors, with some giving as much as $100,000, including Rod Drury of Xero.

Immediately there was speculation about what the large donations were due to. Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi pointed the finger at Act’s policies on co-governance, and suggested the party’s major donors were complicit in a racist agenda. He called for a boycott of Xero.

Many of Act’s donors have also given money to National. For example, Graeme Hart gave $100,000 to Act this year, alongside the $250,000 to National. And other donors to National, such as Craig Heatley and Trevor Farmer, have previously been high profile financial supporters of Act.

Some commentators have suggested that the increased amounts of money going to National are due to leader Christopher Luxon coming out recently with policies such as tax cuts that will aid the wealthy. Others argue that it’s more likely that the donors reflect National’s rise in the opinion polls – as money often follows success, as donors like to back parties that have a good chance of making it into power.

Another reason for the high levels of donations given to the parties of the right has been put forward today by National-aligned political commentator David Farrar. He says that the “most important” factor “is a deep discomfort over the direction of the Ardern Government” felt in the business community. Farrar argues “those large donations are coming in, because the donors are extremely worried about what would happen to New Zealand if there is a third term of the current Government”.

Farrar also points out that the levels being given to parties of the right is unprecedented this far out from an election. Pointing to earlier records of donations in the year before an election, the $3m just given to National and Act is about 10 or 20 times as much as usual.

Whatever the reason for the big donations to political parties, it’s also worth reflecting on another area of funding that might be even more consequential for political party funding – the increased financial value of MPs’ assets. On Friday research came out showing that the houses of Auckland MPs of all parties have risen in value by $14 million over just three years. They are collectively benefitting from what curiously seems to be a cross-party housing policy consensus. So, perhaps the personal enrichment of house-owning politicians is having the biggest impact on how parties operate.

So, although we desperately need more transparency about the political donations which are undoubtedly having an impact on which policies get implemented, we also need to focus on how the individual politicians are also often being personally enriched by those same policies.

Background reading on political donations

Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup: Will electoral and political finance law reform succeed this time around?
Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup: Cash for access to politicians continues
Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup: The Māori Party needs to come clean

Further reading on political donations

Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National Party donations: Paula Bennett organises $1.8 million in funds from wealthy New Zealanders
David Fisher (Herald): Labour official says National’s $1.8m donations in Paula Bennett fundraising drive ‘worrying’
Ben Leahy (One Roof): House price boom: Homes owned by Auckland politicians increase $14 million in four years
David Farrar (Patreon): Why is the money pouring in to National and ACT? (paywalled)
Greg Presland (The Standard): National announces receiving $1.8 million in recent donations
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Labour are behind on donations, now why would that be?
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Is New Zealand First’s Winston Peters back as the kingmaker at the next election? (paywalled)

Other items of interest and importance today

GOVERNMENT AND PARTIES
Chris Trotter (Interest): The sequel is never as good
Grant Walker (NBR): MP resignations, open government and benefit boosts (paywalled)
Jane Clifton (Listener/Herald): Labour’s worn out ‘Let’s Do This’ – it’s time for ‘Let’s Get Real
Mildred Armah (Stuff): National MP accuses Police Minister Poto Williams of ‘political corruption’
Tim Hurdle (Stuff): It would take a big storm to blow National out of the water in Tauranga
Herald: Editorial: Labour MP Louise Wall leaves Parliament a high achiever (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Herald): The secret diary of … the Queen of Halos (paywalled)
Phil Smith (RNZ): Managing MPs – the ‘staff’ you can’t fire
Richard Harman: After the Parliament protest, the Tauranga by-election (paywalled)

ABUSE AND TOXICITY IN POLITICS
Rachel Smalley (Today FM): Everyone should be free to live without fear of online abuse or trolling
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Relentless’ abuse against women MPs on the rise
Stuff: Editorial – Facing up to the trolls
Erin Gourley (Stuff): ‘Disgusting’ abuse targeted at women in Wellington local government
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Cold reality of serving on council
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Pushback against the upswing of political nastiness

CO-GOVERNANCE AND THREE WATERS
Janet Wilson (Stuff): Good faith in repairing race relations is the way forward
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Co-governance debate set to become a political storm
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Co-governance – a phrase that may challenge our notions of citizenship, law, even power
Don Brash: Our democracy is at risk
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): How co-governance is already working
Matt Burrows (Newshub): Patrick Gower reveals the question David Seymour needs to answer on Māori co-governance
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Act’s Machiavellian Co-Governance Referendum: Winners, Losers & Predictions
Cherie Sivignon (Stuff): First tranche of ‘better off’ funding from Three Waters about to start flowing
RNZ: Three Waters package funds affirmation of local government – LGNZ
Katie Bradford (1News): Over a million Kiwis don’t have safe drinking water
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Explainer: What is Wellington Water and why do we care about its mistakes?
Philip Matthews (Stuff): Democracy or division: The wrangle over Ngāi Tahu and ECan

CHINA-NZ-SOLOMONS
Ollie Neas (Guardian): Power shifts: New Zealand reconsiders Pacific role as China’s influence grows
Jon Johansson (Stuff): Solomon’s China deal a wake-up call to inward looking New Zealand
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta says Pacific leaders may need to meet as Solomon Islands prepares to ink China security deal
Associated Press: Solomon Islands says security pact will not allow China to build military base
Bernard Lagan (Listener/Herald): Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd on China and what NZ must do to avoid war (paywalled)
Peter Wilson (RNZ): Week in politics: China’s Pacific security pact shakes region

GOVERNMENT TOURISM FUNDING REPORT
ODT: Editorial – Tourism fund process sloppy
Tess Brunton (RNZ): Controversial government tourism fund saved jobs, propped up business, recipient says
Robert MacCulloch: A $1.5 trillion dollar scandal, officiated over by our Attorney General

MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Graham Adams (The Platform): The no-go areas that are killing mainstream media
Kristin Hall (1News): Misinformation: Down the rabbit hole, and back
Kristin Hall (1News): Misinformation: How social media turned protest into a problem
RNZ: NZME undermines collective bid to confront tech titans
Daniel Dunkley (BusinessDesk): Cracks appear in media’s united front (paywalled)

COST OF LIVING AND BENEFITS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Politics will soon forget the poor, it’s all about the ‘squeezed middle’ (paywalled)
Zane Small (Newshub): National’s Nicola Willis accuses Government of ‘failing the squeezed middle’ as consumer confidence hits record low
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): ‘Premium for working is being eroded’: Minimum wage and benefit rates increase faster than other incomes
1News: ‘Speed, efficiency’ of Covid response needed for child poverty – commissioner
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Families will be no better off from wage and benefit increases
Herald: Editorial: Minimum wage and benefit increases backfire on Government(paywalled)
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Carmel Sepuloni defends Government’s mega benefit boost, concedes some families are still struggling
Susan Edmunds and Melanie Carroll (Stuff): Inflation may absorb impact of NZ’s minimum wage, benefit rises

IMMIGRATION
Liam Dann (Herald): The brain drain returns as NZ reboots migration (paywalled)
1News: NZ could lose 58k people to Aus as borders open – economist
Iain MacLeod (NBR): Immigrants are losing interest in New Zealand (paywalled)

TRANSPORT
RNZ: Calls for public transport discount to be extended, minister says govt will consider options
RNZ: Transport minister on board with Auckland’s half-price public transport
1News: Transport woes a game of catch-up – Michael Wood

COVID
David Cohen (Spectator Australia): How New Zealand’s zero Covid strategy fell apart
Adam Pearse (Herald): Age divide emerges in vaccine mandate removal poll
Derek Cheng (Herald): Why Auckland could be in an orange halo next week (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Cabinet set to decide whether traffic light setting moves from ‘red’ to ‘orange’

MĀTAURANGA MĀORI AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY
Jerry Coyne: Fellows of New Zealand’s Royal Society demand apology and full review of the Society after poor treatment of two members
Graham Adams: The intimidation of the Fellows
Graham Adams: The biggest losers in the mātauranga Māori debate may be Māori students

POLICE
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): IPCA constrained: How independent is NZ’s police watchdog?
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): How the police watchdog is more secretive than the spy agency
John Weekes and Claire Trevett (Herald): Police Minister blocks MP from meeting commanders, says cops ‘too busy’
No Right Turn: The IPCA should be subject to the OIA

4 COMMENTS

  1. Our own oligarchs aren’t happy despite being very rich they want National back in power to kick all the bottom feeders to the curb they want access to more cheap labour and what they want they expect to get. Calling on all bottom feeders to vote.

  2. Politicians call them donations, we call them bribes.
    I guess the rich don’t want to pay more tax.
    Shame the trickle down effect is just myth though the rich try tell you different.
    Jame Lee Ross spilled the beans and blurted to the media how they split donations so they disappear and why certain people get further ahead in this country compared to all those who cant afford to ‘donate’
    This country is just as corrupt as the rest of the world, that anti corruption stat is just a joke.
    I dont see a point in voting, the deck is stacked and middle class and the poor are on the losing side.

  3. ‘I don’t see the point in voting’ that is the very reason why we need to ensure we exercise our democratic right to vote.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.