National is not only winning the race towards the general election finish line, but is also miles ahead in raising money to campaign with. So far, the National Party has picked up $8.2m in big donations since the start of 2021. As RNZ reported this week, that’s seven times more money than the Labour Party.
To alleviate any suspicions of quid pro quo deals, close scrutiny must be applied to these donors, along with any policy and law changes a National government might make that benefit them.
Scrutiny of political donations is always important, of course, regardless of who’s in government. But given the sheer quantum of the donations that are currently going to National, extra vigilance about the influence of this big money is required. Potential conflicts of interest need to be identified and highlighted in order to avoid some of these large donations resulting in private gains for the already-wealthy.
The huge donations going to National
National had a particularly profitable fundraising year in 2022 – taking in $5m in large donations. In 2023, National has already declared $2 million in large donations – four times that of Labour. In this month alone, National has already declared $217,000 in large donations.
National is trumpeting the huge amount of money coming its way. The party’s pollster David Farrar was quoted by RNZ on Wednesday, saying “The amount rolling in is unprecedented”, and “almost exponentially larger than you’ve had in the past”.
Farrar points out that it used to be rare for any party to get anything like donations of $100,000 from a single individual, but now National is regularly getting such amounts. In fact, in June this year building systems and materials supplier, Warren Lewis, gave National $500,000 – the largest donation the party has ever received.
Lewis, who owns FMI Building Innovations, says he’s given the donation with only one condition – a meeting with National leader Christopher Luxon. He says he’s not a National Party member, and has voted for a variety of parties before, including on the left.
Donations from the super-wealthy
New Zealand’s richest man, billionaire Graeme Hart – one of the 200 richest people in the world, worth about $17bn – gave National $250,000 last year. He’s also recently donated to Act ($100,000), and was the biggest financial donor to Wayne Brown’s Auckland mayoralty campaign.
Toy entrepreneur Nick Mowbray also chipped in $250,000 last year. He can afford it – the Mowbray family fortune is about $2.5b.
Former Brierleys chief executive Murray Bolton is worth an estimated $400m. He’s now the CEO of US-based company, Xplor Technologies. He also gave National $250,000 last year. This year he’s given Act $150,000. Bolton hit the news in 2021 because he took MBIE to court over its refusal to allow him to fly his private jet into the country – he claimed it breached the Bill of Rights, and he won.
National’s second-biggest donation in 2023, of $200,000, has come from Buen Holdings, which is owned by Guemsoon Shim and Lian Seng Buen. In previous years, the couple have donated a total of $100,000 through another of their companies, Alpha Laboratories.
This week the couple have been in the news regarding an investigation of allegations of migrant abuse. Newsroom’s Jonathan Milne has outlined how investigations are ongoing by Auckland Council and MBIE Tenancy Services into the couple’s use of their former Auckland home in Shamrock Park to house up to 30 migrant workers.
Jeffrey Douglas, son of the late Sir Graeme Douglas, has given National nearly $104,000 over the last two years. Although he is associated with the family’s Douglas Pharmaceuticals company, Douglas also owns New Zealand’s largest private healthcare and research company. His company has previously been the recipient of government research and development funding.
One transport company has given $100,000 to National. Velocity Freight is owned by Mainstream Group. Recently the company was warned by the Commerce Commission for engaging in “cartel behaviour”. Velocity is a major competitor to Mainfreight, whose owner Bruce Plested has previously given big donations to National, but in recent elections been a major donor to the Māori Party (totalling $360,000).
Maritime businessman James Francis Speedy gave National a $101,000 donation last year. The Aucklander has owned various transport and harbour businesses.
Aviation businessman Hugh Ross Jones has donated $150,000 to National over the last year and a half. Jones made his money in the helicopter business and, according to the NBR, now has “a sizeable residential, commercial and industrial property portfolio”.
Low-profile businessman Gary Lane gave National $100,000 last year. He’s made his money in health and food products – specifically through his company, Antipodean Pharmaceuticals, which is registered in the US.
Business executive Graeme Harrison gave $103,000 to the National Party last year. Harrison is most well-known for his leading role in establishing the ANZCO Foods empire, the country’s fifth-largest exporter. He’s now on the board of the National Party.
Housing industry donors
Former National Cabinet Minister Paula Bennett is the party’s chief fundraiser, and is widely acknowledged as playing a key role in building up the millions in her party’s war chest. Since leaving Parliament Bennett has worked for Bayley’s Real Estate, and that firm has become a major benefactor for the party – giving about $165,000 to National last year.
Rival real estate agency Barfoot and Thompson – the biggest privately owned agency in the country – is owned by the Barfoot family. Patriarch Garth Barfoot is a long-time donor to National. Most recently, he gave $35,000 in 2021
Property developers also feature prominently in National’s donor list. Last month Culum Manson gave $70,000 to the party. His family business, Manson TCLM, is one of the largest private developers in New Zealand.
John and Michael Chow (“The Chow Brothers”) have become big property players, too – including in partnership with John and Max Key in recent years. They have built up a property empire of a billion dollars in assets, and last year alone they built 1,145 properties, valued at $408m. In 2022 their family company Stonewood Group donated $44,000 to National.
National also has a history with property developer the Winton company, partly owned by its CEO Chris Meehan, who has been in the news recently. Through his holding company, Speargrass, Meehan donated $52,000 to National in May 2022, and then another $103,000 on 25 August directly from himself and his partner. One of Winton’s directors is also former National Cabinet Minister, and now business consultant, Steven Joyce.
Eyebrows were raised when, a few months after Meehan’s first donation, National put out a press release supporting Winton in a battle against state housing agency Kāinga Ora. The press release made no mention of National’s financial connection to the property developer it was lobbying in favour of.
The Winton company is now taking legal action against Kāinga Ora, claiming compensation of more than $138 million over alleged anti-competitive behaviour. The state housing agency had rejected a request by Winton to help fast-track one of their projects using special powers under the Urban Development Act.
Racing industry donations
Previously there have been some close connections between racing industry donors and political parties – with large donations made in the past to National and NZ First in particular.
The owners of the famous Cambridge Horse Stud, Brendan and Jocelyn Lindsay, have given National $230,000 over the last two years (and one donation to Act this year of $50,000). The Lindsay family formerly owned the plastic container company Sistema, which they sold in 2016 for $660m.
Another thoroughbred breeder and owner, Sir Peter Vela, has given generously to National – $62,500 last year. Vela owns Pencarrow Stud. He was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the horse bloodstock industry. The Vela family wealth was estimated at $245m in the 2019 NBR Rich List. The family business has previously given large donations to both Labour and NZ First, as well as holding fundraising functions for Winston Peters at the Pencarrow Stud farm.
Farmer interests
Property developer Trevor Farmer has given National $200,000 over the last year and a half. He also donated $100,000 to Act last year. His business partner Mark Wyborn has given National $100,000 over the last couple of years, as well as $50,000 to Act in 2021.
Together Farmer and Wyborn are part owners of a 26,000ha dairy farm near Taupō which has had problems getting enough water for their operations – unsuccessfully applying in 2019 for resource consent to take 71 million litres of water a day out of the Waikato River.
Another giant landowner has given $62,000 to National this month. The Oregon Group is owned by the Tiong Family, who normally reside in Malaysia, but are said to be the second largest private land owners in NZ.
The company is also notable for its agricultural and forestry subsidiary, Ernslaw One, which was fined $225,000 for causing forestry slash problems in Tairāwhiti. The group is currently creating a salmon farm in the Cook Strait, working with the ministries for the Environment and Primary Industries.
Another corporate farmer, Chris Reeves, gave National a $100,000 donation, via his Tawata Farms company in 2021. He has previously given more to Act, with known donations totalling $430,000.
Smaller but interesting donations
Some of the smaller donations to National are interesting too. Andrew Kelly donated $25,000 to the party in June. He was one of the three men who had previously donated to Labour politician Stuart Nash and then received confidential Cabinet information, which cost the MP his job. (Another one of Nash’s donor/confidants, Troy Bowker, has given $35,000 to Act).
Auckland commercial landlord Andrew Krukziener donated $22,000 to National in June. This follows on from him being the biggest backer of Auckland mayoral candidate Viv Beck – Krukziener’s company donated $107,000 to the centre-right politician’s failed campaign before falling in behind the successful campaign of Wayne Brown.
The owner of the Scenic Hotel chain, Lani Hagaman, gave National $50,000 last year. She has an estimated worth of about $210m and is the widow of multi-millionaire Earl Hagaman, who was also a large National donor.
One of the wealthiest men in New Zealand, Craig Heatley, gave $100,000 last year. He’s normally more of an Act Party donor (he also gave them $50,000 this year).
Other traditional Act donors shifting more money to National include the private equity firm Christopher & Banks Ltd, run by rich-lister Christopher Huljich. They have given National $200,000 over the last year and a half. But they’ve also given another $100,000 to Act this year.
One of National’s traditional big donors is merchant banker David Richwhite, who extravagantly donated about $350,000 to the party back in 1996. Since then, however, Richwhite has been relatively absent from the donations records. Last month he’s suddenly returned, donating $50,000 to National.
Why we should care about National’s huge donations
Why are wealthy individuals and businesses giving such large amounts of money to National? The most obvious answer is that the party looks like it’s on course to form the next government.
The history of donations shows the wealthy tend to give to parties that are doing well in the polls. Businesspeople back parties who are likely to be in government. In 2020, the big money went to Labour rather than National, with National only declaring $285,000 of big donations. Therefore, it makes more sense to think of the big money following National’s success, rather than causing it.
Business donors are also inclined to reward parties that have policies they like or feel are “good for the economy”. Like most voters, business donors support parties they feel will govern in their interests. Unlike most voters, however, they make this support known with very large sums of money.
It’s always hard to ascribe exact motivations for donors giving to political parties, but influence over politicians who will likely soon have a lot of power would have to be one of them. In the case of a potential incoming National government, thousands of decisions will soon need to be made, and these will have all sorts of impact on businesses. Donations of this magnitude will certainly ensure National sits up and takes notice of the individuals who have made them.
There is increasing public awareness about the impact of political donations and lobbying on the political process. The ball is therefore now in the court of the donors and the parties to assuage public suspicion that it’s not all about undue influence. It is naïve to assume that big money does not wield big influence in New Zealand. So, as National steams towards power, a lot of light will need to be shone on these relationships, so we can be assured that in 2023 the mega-wealthy haven’t been able to buy a big chunk of our democracy.
If Labour had done a decent job of running the country then all the money in the World would not have got National back .It is the people who were let down who will vote them out
Yep
Very true Trevor
“We can be assured that in 2023 the mega-wealthy have been able to buy a big chunk of our ‘democracy’.”
FIFY.
Brilliant public interest journalism. The concluding sentence is very telling. Democracy it seems is more than just one person one vote. I think most voters know this but all too frequently forget it. Good to be reminded.
Would be interesting to see where Labour’s big donations come from. Or the Greens and NZF for that matter. I guess it’s all on public record. And how interesting to learn that Labour got the lion’ share leading up to the 2020 election. What was behind that?
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”
What decades of socialism has demonstrated is that it generates a level of “need” that can never be satisfied.
Two decades ago WFF wasn’t needed, now people can’t survive without it.
Five decades ago, the DPB wasn’t needed and now people can’t survive without it.
The inevitable end result is that eventually the “need” will reach a point where the people left working will not be able to bear the load and it will collapse.
Perfect summary Jays.
I would love to be able to praise and salute our wealthy as capains of industry, national heroes. But they’re not.
Adam Smith capitalism require:
free info in the marketplace
reinvestment – including by the state
a good society of moral sentiments.
We have none of those.
Profit should come off the national surplus, once our democratic needs are met and paid for. But at the moment, we have entrenched parasites at the top sucking up the wealth of the nation. Look at the covid profiteers. The govt then has to claw back and fill inb the dreadful holes made by unregulated greed.
This tiny group is who the system serves, not the people.
When you campaign on doing everything you can do to make the property market explode, including selling everything to anyone offshore, and you campaign on removing whatever mediocre regulations we have that protect resources or course these people will folk out huge sums. Bob the first will tell you they are deeply concerned about the cost of living and the poor. It’s f’ing laughable
This makes it crystal clear why a weath tax in particular has no traction in NZ politics.
Meh! for years the union movement donated en mass to Labour, can you say the unions didn’t have influence in Labour policy?
Of course they did, hell at one stage most of Labour MPs were ex union bosses of some sort, Andrew Little just one example.
These are individual people donating to National, business people yes….have you seen the state of the bloody economy, of course they want a change of Govt and so they should….but buying ‘influence’?, nope…just knowing your company/business will be fucked if another 3yrs of this Govt is allowed is motivation enough to donate to National.
Still playing the same banjo music I see Im wrong , always have been.
Agree
‘Standard & Poor’s credit rating for New Zealand stands at AA+ with stable outlook. Moody’s credit rating for New Zealand was last set at Aaa with stable outlook. Fitch’s credit rating for New Zealand was last reported at AA+ with stable outlook.’
When New Zealand premier Richard( King Dick Seddon) was asked why he gave favours to his friends he said,’do you expect me to give them to my enemies?”
Donors to National are good at making investments and they expect National/ACT government to give them a good return on their investment.
I know I am pointing out the obvious but for all of you on low incomes planning to vote National or ACT because you have taken a personal dislike to people in the Labour Party remember:
You are not investors so you will not get any returns.
Labour? Green – crap but the lesser of evils. Nationl/Act + plus corporate wealth= re-introduction of child labour, slavery and destruction of what remains of the Welfare State.
I am sure you are right they will be putting kids down the mine as soon as possible.
” I am sure you are right they will be putting kids down the mine as soon as possible ”
Only the poor ones Trevor.
reintroduction of child labour, slavery and destruction of the welfare state! Thanks for the chuckle.
No, the biggest chuckle was Seymour believing Nelson Mandela would be an Act supporter. Seems Seymour loves jokes but what he doesn’t realize is he’s the biggest joke of them all!
Charles Meghan Markle similarly claimed that when she married the dimwit prince, Africans danced in the streets the way that they did when Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Both fantasists, obscenely trading on the reputation of a moral giant which they are not.
As soon as Greens mentioned wealth tax, it would be like a ATM for National.
One of the few countries in the world that has a wealth tax is Sweden, their rental property is extremely scarce (9 year wait with rent controls) and expensive so it seems to be the opposite of what the Greens seemed to be campaigning on.
Why rent control isn’t working in Sweden
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58317555
Weirdly 20 years ago, NZ used to be full of easy to find rentals, but obviously when there is an net gain of 100,000 new people each year, that puts huge strain on everything from housing, infrastructure and health care. Made even worse if the people coming, are tax negative while the people leaving used to be tax positive!
Our governments seems happy to borrow billions for the folly to become a poorer, less skilled nation and the supermarkets are happy!
Looks like they’ve already bought it…
Popular parties get more money than unpopular parties, and Labour is hated
No, NACT parties have supporters with deeper pockets. They aren’t necessarily more popular.
Their supporters are not just showing they approve of NACT policies, they are buying policy.
The picture shows a guy saying the redistribution of wealth doesn’t work.
Not redistributing wealth doesn’t work either.
As usual there needs to be a middle road but the greedies always want more.
John+Roy. Hate is a dirty word, but Labour, the Greens, and the ineffectual Nats are all pretty much disliked. That said, the Greens naked hatred of the alleged rich hasn’t helped anybody very much at all.
Which is ironic considering most of the Greens MPs are upper middle class, and a huge sway of their votes come from the posh suburbs.
BG. The whole concept of class may have changed during my lifetime. It now seems to be defined by dosh, which doesn’t necessarily indicate good breeding or embraceable values. Davidson seemed to be the mean girl, who grew up on the wrong side of Christchurch envying others, lives in rental accommodation, and seemingly decided that everyone owning a house worth a million dollars was a millionaire. Many who live in dumps which they struggle to maintain, and to pay the rates and insurances on, would not agree with the excitable chocolate eating enemy of non-gay white males who makes sweeping statements not necessarily based on facts.
“…and Labour is hated” No it’s not.You just made that up you naughty little thing.
Aw Shucks @ Cuntry Boy. Don’t be mean! John Roy might actually be a contributor who is interested in a discussion, rather than the likes of Bob and others (like fucking Ada) who’re only interested in Spray and Walk Away in between dousing their lifestyle blocks and commenting on TDB
I’m hoping he’s angling for MoBIE’s CEO position. Couldn’t do any worse than the old biddy currently pretending, and he’ll usher in the new age of wisdom with consequences that are intended.
Seems so John Roy, in 2023. But if BE is correct it was a very different story in 2020. National only declared a paltry $285k from big donations. Swings and roundabouts. Probably whispers of a wealth tax, however unlikely under any left of centre Labour govt, has the big players nervous.
“Why are wealthy individuals and businesses giving such large amounts of money to National? The most obvious answer is that the party looks like it’s on course to form the next government.”
What Bullshit, none of those listed donate to the Labour party – regardless of who “looks on course” to form a government.
“The ball is therefore now in the court of the donors and the parties to assuage public suspicion that it’s not all about undue influence. ”
Ya dreaming Bryce
It’s good to know this. But I also agree with John Roy
What we can agree upon, is the election will be won on right wing hate and big business donors, thank you for the admission.
National are not going to win cause of big money. They are going to win cause Labour are so bad
100%
Agree
Agree.
Yeah but millions in the bank ….money talks and it is all about buying policy and direction post October. But you have to put your money on the most likely horse that has the best odds in the race every three years and that’s what these deliciously wealthy people do to ensure there is no threat or change to their status quo.
LINO or the Nasties it makes no difference as long as whether the tide is running out on the red or the blue ……..Anker the neo liberal free market unregulated capitalist system is not threatened.
They will be coming for the FPA , no minimum wage increases , harsh anti union legislation , and the usual severe austerity squeeze every last drop and no more funding of the public service that they carried out the last time they were in government which included sewage running down the internal walls of hospitals like Middlemore starved of funds to ensure our public services indeed stayed third world services unless you can access private health.
LINO or the NACT NASTIES will continue to be bad but it makes no difference in the long run and you might have figured out why.
Mosa that story about sewage running down down an internal wall of a hospital was nonsense and an organised beat up. A subsequent investigation did reveal some stains that were not sewage and they were quickly cleaned off using a mop and bucket. Real hospital horror stories abound under Labour. Service levels have declined locally with many acute cases no longer being treated at our hospital but airlifted out to another part of NZ after days of waiting without treatment. Few would argue that public hospital services were not better pre 2017 stained walls and all. At least there was a much better chance of timely treatment!
Nah Trev take your rose tinted glasses off and do some research.
” Beat up eh ”
Of course it is but it was real !
” He concluded by suggesting that this was all an invented crisis by Labour to cover up the fiscal hole which is appearing as we learn more about the state of the various Government departments ”
National’s pollster followed this up by repeating the story and the smear. One of his posts “the much hyped sewage leak was a stain on the ground” was, with the benefit of hindsight, full of shit. Because further information has been released that highlights the full horror of the situation.
” Counties Manukau DHB acting chief executive Dr Gloria Johnson said that when she told the public in March this year that they were first alerted to the leaks in 2012, she was not aware of the 2010 report.
The Dalton report includes a photo of a fece-stained first-floor sewage pipe, where leaking caused “serious damage” to framing. Board’s chair Rabin Rabindran, a board member Mark Darrow and the DHB itself have all said media reports of sewage leaks were overplayed. It’s now known there were at least four such leaks of raw sewage.
https://thestandard.org.nz/so-there-was-sewerage-leaking-into-middlemore-hospitals-walls/
“Dr Bryce Political Roundup: Who is funding National to victory?”
Farmers have been unwittingly funding the National Party since about the 1930s and the National Party have taken that money and have been funding today’s urban hyper riche who, you guessed it, have been returning the favour back to The National Party since about the 1930s and that, boys and girls etc is how Auckland and its leafy suburb crooks and con artists dribbling the money down to da bubba-go-brum-brum’s as the wank their Ferrari’s past the homeless.
Here’s how they do it.
Take a sheep. Any ol sheep’ll do. Buy her dinner, get her drunk… No. Wait. Sorry. I was thinking of ACT’s roger and seymour the deep state Natzo double ACT. Yes. Pun intended.
I’ll try again.
Take a sheep. Any ol’ sheep’ll do and get a lamb out of her then shear her. Once the lamb’s born and is fattened off they go off to become gas station pies. Nummy num-nums aye brum-hiss burn-out bogans?
The bales of wool are taken off our farmers hands because they’re full of worthless wool. Wool! Who want’s that stuff?Wrightson’s I’d rather have recycled plastic milk bottle clothing. Cold, sticky, smelly, desperately ugly, nasty and vile but hey! Cheap-As Bro but it doesn’t matter because we have no Class dahlings!
The wool is then two things. Thing one and most importantly, it’s no longer the sheep farmer’s. Once the farmer gets about a dollar a kg for it, off it goes to Milan Dahlings but before that, three farmer-bales of wool are squeezed into one export bale down at the wool store. ( Triple dumping.) Wrightson’s? PGG? Heard of? Once washed ( Scoured.) Off she goes to Milan, to the fashion houses of Europe etc where a scant few shitty little ol’ dollars worth of silly ol’ wool is magically fashioned into billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars, Aye Boys? You lying, greedy, exploitative scum. No disrespect to actual scum.
The fun spin to all that-there is that, that wool becomes money and money can be laundered and who better to do that than Kiwi-As banksters, now foreign owned. Our banks have been bleeding out our primary industry and the banks are in cahoots with the various producer boards and have been so for multiples of generations and their primary objective is to keep our farmers oppressed and in debt to ensure an on-going supply of free money AKA returns on investment.
The scum funding the National party are the same scum who pirate our farmers. They’re the same scum who lobby our politicians to never create laws to ban bankster-racketeering of our farmer earned foreign currency.
Solution:
Everyone not a farmer or are directly involved in farming goes on a living wage. The 14 multi-billionaires and the 3118 multi-millionaires have their assets frozen pending redistribution to us and the four foreign owned banks get taxed at a rate not less than 99.99 % on their gross profits until they’re formerly ejected then deported from our AO/NZ.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry into our economy in all respects spanning the last ninety three years. From a little bit earlier would be ideal.
Ahhh Countryboy, another on here with 2 names, thank you….nice to know Battlefield Earth is also Countryboy.
Why you need 2?
You realised your overly longwinded posts were not being read and another ‘name’ would get some to read your posts? Lol
Does Battlefield Earth also masturbate to Russell Brand you tube clips?
Go on I’m right have a second name like I’m an arsehole who has to write a comments like this that has nothing to do with your wealthy mates and supporters and their nasty inhumane policies that they buy with their money which is what this post is about.
You don’t have to visit this blog and shit on contributors like C.B as it upsets you so much , why not contribute on Kiwi blog most of them would be more your kind of people !
You must be a NACT supporter , most of them are as toxic as you are.
It’s okay mosa, one only needs to read Im right’s post to know it’s an arsehole.
When Whale Oil closed down it had no where to go.
I do post on Kiwiblog Mosa, and on here….The Standard also once, and like many others got banned for not worshipping at the St Jacinda alter!
I only need one name to post my contribution to any debate, why would I need 2?, I don’t have anything to hide nor try to fool the readers that I’m a ‘different’ person/contributer, now why would someone do that I wonder?
” I don’t have anything to hide nor try to fool the readers that I’m a ‘different’ person/contributor, now why would someone do that I wonder ”
It has never occurred to me or upset me that much.
I don’t care what your name is or what you post under as long as you can post your contribution without people like you spitting your venom and making it personal.
You were out of line with your comments and should stick to Kiwi blog.
TDB should have censured you.
“Dr Bryce Political Roundup: Who is funding National to victory?”
Farmers have been unwittingly funding the National Party since about the 1930s and the National Party have taken that money and have been funding today’s urban hyper riche who, you guessed it, have been returning the favour back to The National Party since about the 1930s and that, boys and girls etc is how Auckland and its leafy suburb crooks and con artists dribbling the money down to da bubba-go-brum-brum’s as the wank their Ferrari’s past the homeless.
Here’s how they do it.
Take a sheep. Any ol sheep’ll do. Buy her dinner, get her drunk… No. Wait. Sorry. I was thinking of ACT’s roger and seymour the deep state Natzo double ACT. Yes. Pun intended.
I’ll try again.
Take a sheep. Any ol’ sheep’ll do and get a lamb out of her then shear her. Once the lamb’s born and is fattened off they go off to become gas station pies. Nummy num-nums aye brum-hiss burn-out bogans?
The bales of wool are taken off our farmers hands because they’re full of worthless wool. Wool! Who want’s that stuff?Wrightson’s I’d rather have recycled plastic milk bottle clothing. Cold, sticky, smelly, desperately ugly, nasty and vile but hey! Cheap-As Bro but it doesn’t matter because we have no Class dahlings!
The wool is then two things. Thing one and most importantly, it’s no longer the sheep farmer’s. Once the farmer gets about a dollar a kg for it, off it goes to Milan Dahlings but before that, three farmer-bales of wool are squeezed into one export bale down at the wool store. ( Triple dumping.) Wrightson’s? PGG? Heard of? Once washed ( Scoured.) Off she goes to Milan, to the fashion houses of Europe etc where a scant few shitty little ol’ dollars worth of silly ol’ wool is magically fashioned into billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars, Aye Boys? You lying, greedy, exploitative scum. No disrespect to actual scum.
The fun spin to all that-there is that, that wool becomes money and money can be laundered and who better to do that than Kiwi-As banksters, now foreign owned. Our banks have been bleeding out our primary industry and the banks are in cahoots with the various producer boards and have been so for multiples of generations and their primary objective is to keep our farmers oppressed and in debt to ensure an on-going supply of free money AKA returns on investment.
The scum funding the National party are the same scum who pirate our farmers. They’re the same scum who lobby our politicians to never create laws to ban bankster-racketeering of our farmer earned foreign currency.
Solution:
Everyone not a farmer or are directly involved in farming goes on a living wage. The 14 multi-billionaires and the 3118 multi-millionaires have their assets frozen pending redistribution to us and the four foreign owned banks get taxed at a rate not less than 99.99 % on their gross profits until they’re formerly ejected then deported from our AO/NZ.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry into our economy in all respects spanning the last ninety three years. From a little bit earlier would be ideal.
So there was no problem with Labour getting all the big money in 2020, but there is a problem with National getting it in 2023? Of course, the illusion of popular sovereignty under what is laughably called “democracy” is a complete sham, but the distinction as to what is right and what is wrong in this article seems to be not that big money determines policy, but who receives that big money.
So Fidel how much “big money” did Labour get? Then we may take the rest of your comment seriously.
I’ll help…$1,510,627.55
National…$2,802,766.27
Now, re read the article, it is “WHO” that is being highlighted, rich listers!
Very good point.
If we want better democracy political donations should be limited to all being the same value and public. Or no donations at all. As unpalatable as it might be some sort of state funding would be better than the corruption we have now.
Right what we need to do within the next few weeks, months, part years… is to control promotion, advertising around elections with rules governing all.
Yes
It’s official ACT are desperate…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/david-seymours-claim-nelson-mandela-would-campaign-for-act-rubbished-by-grandson/AO672PU4YZE6NHKPKGHVOVJQ7U/
I think I forgot to write, a tremendous job @ Dr Bryce. Thank you.
The National family have big appetites though doctor, 8 million won’t even cover the legal expenses of matriarch director Shipley.
Democracy is great at getting the best government money can buy, what is unusual is that anyone is surprised by the money train that follows electoral success. While the current government deserve their lack of support the answers from the current opposition do not inspire confidence that the next 3 years will be any better. This world is running out of time and while the billionaire class is looking to space for an escape my hope is in a more sure promise.
Democracy is great at getting the best government money can buy, what is unusual is that anyone is surprised by the money train that follows electoral success. While the current government deserve their lack of support the answers from the current opposition do not inspire confidence that the next 3 years will be any better. This world is running out of time and while the billionaire class is looking to space for an escape my hope is in a more sure promise.
A political donation from a company with share holders is either:
Illegal because it seeks to gain influence on government. This is called corruption.
Illegal because it gains nothing, influence or otherwise, for the money. Those spending the money have failed in their fiduciary duty to spend the company’s money wisely.
Which one is it?
Thanks Martyn – I am sure that the vast majority of that is correct. I am shaken and stirred too. It is time to set limits. We are being seduced by heartless financiers obsessed with the chase for profits, (the City version of rural chasing after foxes on horseback with hounds). who will suck us dry and sue us when we are bankrupt.
I am reminded of Alex the financier cartoon in the Daily Telegraph and really it should be checked while getting our daily onceover. Forewarned is forearmed perhaps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(comic_strip)
Peattie and Taylor are reputed to work closely with a variety of London financial contacts to ensure that their strips accurately reflect the recent scandals and rumours which pass around the City. Much gossip has circulated as to the likely inspiration for some of the characters. A storyline in March 2009 had one of Alex’s old colleagues leave the city to become a teacher, coinciding with a British government plan to ease the amount of time spent on teacher training and encouraging “fantastic mathematicians… who would have once perhaps gone into the City but now actually might be more interested in a career in teaching”.
The most common kind of joke features a conversation between the characters, where in the final frame a twist ending becomes apparent – the context of the conversation was not what the reader had supposed, usually reflecting on the protagonists’ materialistic values and priorities.,,
Another kind of strip which appears occasionally consists of only two large frames, showing two different characters, or the same character in two different situations, giving a monologue composed of almost exactly the same words, but which, in the different situations, have very different meanings.
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