PM open to debate on party funding

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she is open to taxpayer funding for political parties.

When asked yesterday if the current climate was the perfect time to look at electoral law and donations, she said she was open to having the debate if that was something the public wanted.

Donations have been put under the spotlight after MP Jami-Lee Ross released a tape of himself and National leader Simon Bridges discussing a $100,000 donation. Ross claimed Chinese businessman Yikun Zhang made a $100,000 donation to the party and alleged Bridges asked him to split it into smaller parts so it could remain anonymous.

Ardern said the 2017 general election was being reviewed and there was a place for members of the public to have their voice heard.

Personally, she would like a scenario where the political party did not have to fundraise, but she said ultimately that was how campaigns were run.

‘‘There are overseas examples where they have chosen to have a different system. I’m not sure whether or not there is the public license for that,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘If I hear from the public that is something they want to have a debate around . . . by all means . . . I’d rather not have to focus on fundraising and donations to run political campaigns but at the moment we are reliant on them for democracy.’’

She was not alone in her desire not to depend on donations, with Labour Party president Nigel Haworth keen to look at the system.

‘‘In an ideal world we might want to look at state funding but that is a question for the people . . . we might look at different ways of doing things, the question is whether people are ready to think about different ways. At the moment we have a legal framework that works tolerably well,’’ he said.

Labour had never split up large donations and exactly followed the current legal requirements, he said.

‘‘Every single one of our donations is absolutely recorded as required by law. We have gone through it with a fine tooth comb . . . it’s audited.

‘‘One of the things I’m really proud of is we meet the law’s requirements to the letter.’’

If people wanted to have a debate about different systems, that would be a good thing because it was part of a healthy democracy, he said.

Haworth believes all New Zealanders should be allowed to contribute to parties for democratic process.