10 LISTENER FEBRUARY 29 2020
T
he New Zealand First political-
donations scandal is spreading
like a coronavirus, infecting
MPs who do not even belong
to that wealthy party. The revelation
that the lobbying firm of NZ First
Foundation trustee Doug Woolerton
tried to get a parliamentary select
committee to change planned legisla-
tion on foreign ownership affecting
property developers such as Conrad
Properties – which then quietly
donated $55,000 to the foundation- drew into the mess Labour and
National MPs infected by contact
with Woolerton.
Our electoral donation
laws are a farce. Dona-
tions above $15,
must have their donors’
names publicly declared.
Donations of $14,999.
and less do not. Multiple
donations just under the
$15,000 threshold seem
to be easily disguised by
either using different
related entities or simply
not disclosing the extra
donations by the same
donor.
Obviously, those laws
should be changed. Dona-
tions of more than $
should be identified and
the onus put on political
parties to check that no
related entities are making multiple payments.
“Cash for favours” is a strain of political cor-
ruption that has engulfed administrations around
the world over the years. Restricting anonymous
donations to no more than $1000 would ensure
New Zealand is inoculated against that disease. The
only reason someone gives big money to a political
party and then demands their names be kept secret
is because they believe observers might draw their
own conclusions about the reasons for the largesse
bestowed.
Usually, it would be the media or vigilant blog-
gers who draw public conclusions about that kind
of thing but, in the case of the NZ First Foundation
donations, the opposite seems to apply, with a
Whale Oil-connected blog running covert photo-
graphs of a journalist talking to a former NZ First
president, Lester Gray, seemingly blowing the cover
of a whistleblower.W
hale Oil himself, Cameron Slater, appears
to be beached by health issues and legal
problems, but his wife, known as The Span-
ish Bride, is running the blog site. Where would the
blog have got those photos? Well, a close associate
of the Whale has been involved in fundraisingfor ... NZ First. Winston Peters’
frantic backpedalling after implying
his party took the pictures doesn’t
exactly inspire confidence, either.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is
struggling to maintain the position
that the NZ First donation saga is
no business of hers, despite the fact
that her Deputy Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister, Peters, is caught in
the middle of it. She can do that only
until the point that the police or
Serious Fraud Office decide whether
or not to act.
If NZ First is charged, surely Ardern
will have to stand down Peters and
NZ First ministers until a verdict is
reached. National’s Simon Bridges
has handed her a gift by declaring
National would not deal with NZ
First and, therefore, Peters really
cannot threaten to bring down the
Government if stood down. NZ First
would be dog tucker in any snap
election that occurred as a result.
Meanwhile, of course, National has
contracted its own dona-
tion-scandal virus. Four
individuals are charged
with offences relating to
big sums donated “anon-
ymously” to a National
Party branch. Bridges is
trying to quarantine the
fallout by claiming no
one from National itself is
in the dock. We will see if
that is enough to protect
the party, and him, once
the issue comes before
the court.
One thing is for sure.
The scandals mentioned
are surely reason enough
to clean up the laws
relating to political dona-
tions. lLIFE
Donors and viruses
If NZ First is
charged, surely
Ardern will
have to standdown Peters
and ministers.S
TE
VE
B
O
LT
O
N
BILL
RALSTON
Our farcical
electoral donation
laws make the whiff
of scandal hard
to quarantine.