election funding

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How can you forget $178,394 in campaign donations?

Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, September 1st, 2024 - 16 comments

This is going to take some explaining. The police have decided to take no action against National MP David MacLeod for failing to declare $178,394 in electoral donations. No this is not an Onion headline.

National MP *forgets* to declare $178,000 in donations

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, May 21st, 2024 - 21 comments

In breaking news New Plymouth National MP David MacLeod apparently *forgot* to declare $178,000 in declarations to the Electoral Commission.

About the promoters electoral returns

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, February 25th, 2024 - 8 comments

The Electoral Commission has released the major promoters’ electoral returns. These show significant amounts of money being spent on getting Labour unelected but give no detail about how the campaigns were funded.

The problem with corporate money in electorate campaigns

Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, February 24th, 2024 - 34 comments

Patrick Phelps campaign expense return

The 2023 candidate election returns have released and it has emerged that Bathurst Resources Ltd contributed $32,600 to Patrick Phelps, who ran a spoiler campaign against Damian O’Connor in West Coast Tasman.

Atlas smirked

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, January 7th, 2024 - 115 comments

A George Monbiot article in the Guardian made me wonder what effect the Atlas Network is having on New Zealand politics through the Taxpayer’s Union. Publicly available information suggests considerable funding is being made available and that the current Government’s priorities are precisely those that the Atlas Network would approve of.

Much ado about nothing

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, April 22nd, 2023 - 44 comments

Right wing twitter thought it was onto something big yesterday after there were revelations that Human Rights Commissioner Meng Foon had donated funds and cheap premises to Kiri Allan’s election campaign in 2020.  But there was one rather significant problem with this expose, he had also donated to the National candidate in the same election.

The rich want their country back

Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, January 18th, 2023 - 61 comments

The Electoral Commission has published that National raised $2.3 million dollars in large donations alone over the past 12 months.

Why stick more fingers in the donations dyke?

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 pm, August 1st, 2022 - 13 comments

The latest attempt to construct a sensible political donations regime will likely again prove to be full of holes. Going back to basics would be much better. The good news is that the basics were comprehensively assessed 36 years ago by the 1986 Royal Commission on Electoral Reform. It recommended state funding.

The Auckland Mayoralty campaign

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, May 15th, 2022 - 9 comments

The Auckland mayoralty campaign promises to be a fascinating contest between a right winger promising to spend $1.5 million on the campaign and wants to turn sprinklers on the homeless and Efeso Collins who promises to run an inclusive respectful campaign.

Donations trouble for Māori Party and National

Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, April 13th, 2021 - 14 comments

The Electoral laws about donations are pretty clear.  Receive a donation over $30,000 and you should tell the Electoral Commission about the report within the next ten working days.  But the Maori Party and the National Party have both managed to recently breach this simple requirement.

The biggest grifter

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, April 5th, 2021 - 17 comments

The New York Times is reporting that the Trump Campaign sucked in a whole lot of republican voters by asking for urgent donations but then treating them as regular rather than one off donations unless donors discovered and clicked on a well hidden check box.

The Votesafe campaign

Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, October 2nd, 2020 - 35 comments

A well funded organisation has emerged from nowhere and is potentially having a significant effect on one of the referendum topics this year.

Will Jami Lee spill the beans on National’s donations?

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 am, July 29th, 2020 - 45 comments

Jami-Lee Ross is threatening today to attempt to table details of National’s 2017 donations in Parliament.

Someone should keep a Talley

Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, February 26th, 2020 - 15 comments

Radio New Zealand has published details of Talley donations totalling $27,000 being made to the NZ First Foundation.

National has nothing to be afraid of

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, February 20th, 2020 - 54 comments

National has absolutely nothing to worry about the prosecution of four people for carving up a donation to the National Party.

National’s donation reporting problem

Written By: - Date published: 7:19 am, February 19th, 2020 - 25 comments

National’s recent donations returns suggest that a large total of their donations are made in the under $15,000 category, the benefit of which is that the donor’s identity does not have to be disclosed.  Update: The four accused have been named.

National received two dodgy $100,000 donations

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, February 18th, 2020 - 46 comments

The SFO charges laid in the District Court reveal that it investigated not one but two dodgy $100,000 donations to National.

Will DPF condemn National for hiding the identity of its donors?

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, February 11th, 2020 - 59 comments

David Farrar has called for the suspension of Winston Peters from Cabinet for reasons which would also justify the suspension of Simon Bridges from the National Party.

Pay the money back Simon

Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, February 1st, 2020 - 33 comments

Simon Bridges has stated that National wants to pay the undeclared $100,000 donation back but even though nearly two years have passed since it was made it still remains unrepaid.

Is National the party of law and order?

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, January 30th, 2020 - 38 comments

Following the announcement by the Serious Fraud Office of charges relating to the donation of $100,000 to the National Party Simon Bridges claim of being exonerated appear to be optimistic.

Bridges calls for investigation into National’s handling of electoral donations

Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, November 29th, 2019 - 24 comments

Simon Bridges’ demand of an investigation into the New Zealand First Foundation appears to have backfired after it emerges that the NZ First Foundation was modelled on the National Party Foundation.

Hypocrites

Written By: - Date published: 7:37 am, November 22nd, 2019 - 57 comments

National’s attacks on NZ First’s Foundation are hypocritical in the extreme given that it also has a Foundation and has used this foundation to hide the identity of donors who have collectively potentially contributed huge amounts of money to the party.

Hypocrite

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, November 20th, 2019 - 74 comments

Simon Bridges has accused NZ First of engaging in the most significant breach of electoral law in New Zealand’s history. But has not ruled out working with NZ First in the future. And has forgotten about National’s neat partition of a $100,000 donation to hide it from the authorities.

Not a good look

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, November 19th, 2019 - 98 comments

There has been recent media exposure on New Zealand First’s treatment of donations and the use of a trust to receive donations and avoid contribution disclosure requirements by making payments loans rather than gifts.

Ross leaks again

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, August 27th, 2019 - 46 comments

Jami Lee Ross has released details showing National avoided restrictions against overseas donations by a New Zealand incorporated company being used to make the donation.

The election year party donations returns

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 am, May 6th, 2018 - 40 comments

The election year donation returns have been released and show a surge of donations for Labour but National still well ahead.

The Yellow Peril?

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, November 15th, 2017 - 338 comments

What’s with the academic panic epidemic about China? Two in our media in the same week, referencing each other with vague warnings about the Chinese bogey. It’s not quite Lionel Terry in Haining Street again; more likely in my view a case of singing to someones else’s geopolitical tune. No prizes for guessing whose.

 

Party donations analysis

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, June 20th, 2017 - 101 comments

Max Rasbrooke has done an analysis of donations to political parties, and raises the concern that donations buy influence. There is a solution to this problem.

Political donations and conflicts of interest

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, March 2nd, 2015 - 53 comments

Whether it’s about election donations or portfolios, some people do seem to think MPs should always get the benefit of the doubt.

Brassneck

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, March 2nd, 2015 - 64 comments

The release of the candidate donation returns has shown us that the National Party are still rorting the system. However, there are issues for the NZ Labour Party as well. Four MP’s have taken money from sources that do not have the interests of the Labour party or, indeed, the majority of Kiwis at heart. Brassneck or bought and sold?

“Mr Slater’s made it quite clear”: Key standup transcript pt1

Written By: - Date published: 1:10 pm, August 19th, 2014 - 26 comments

How slippery is John Key? Part one of transcript of Key’s press standup last Thursday. On accessing Labour’s website private details, OIAs to the SIS, Dirty Politics, Nicky Hager and Mr Slater. [Updated]

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