Ban on anonymous donations proposed

A ban of anonymous political donations is among the possible changes to electoral law being considered by the Government.

Justice Minister Kris Faafoi in October announced the Government would embark on a major overhaul of how elections are run, with specific ‘‘targeted changes’’ on how donations are disclosed and the Mā ori general roll set to come into force for the 2023 election.

The Ministry of Justice on Friday published a consultation document about possible changes to political donations it wants public feedback on. A ban on anonymous political donations is among the proposed changes.

The document also proposed lowering the threshold for political parties to disclose donors from $15,000 to $1500, and requiring political parties to make public their annual financial statements.

The ACT Party has called the possible changes ‘‘constitutionally dangerous’’, while the Green Party has thrown its support behind the changes to curb what it alleged to be undue influence from big money donors.

The Ministry of Justice, in briefing documents, said there was ‘‘a clear public interest in understanding the potential financial influences on key participants in our democratic system’’.

‘‘Recent high-profile incidents involving donations to major political parties or candidates have raised public concerns about the level of transparency in, and complexity of, our donations regime.

‘‘Each incident has been different in nature and this suggests there may be a number of vulnerabilities in the current settings that warrant further attention.’’

Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis said there were reasons for allowing anonymous, small donations that were not ‘‘nefarious’’, including that a

donor may not wish for the party to chase them down for more money in the future.

‘‘Our system isn’t going to get corrupted by having people give $200 or $300, anonymously, or even $1000,’’ he said. ‘‘If it’s your money, and you’re wanting to give it to the party, and it’s not really posing any threat to a greater democracy, why shouldn’t you be able to?’’

The seven changes being considered, such as reducing the disclosure threshold, did not amount to a ‘‘grand overhaul’’ of the system, he said.

‘‘By reducing [the threshold] down to $1500, you make it much harder to split donations up to avoid disclosure.’’

Splitting of donations above $15,000 to avoid disclosure has been considered a crime under the electoral donations regime.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Government had not yet determined whether it would support a ban on anonymous donations, among other options on the table.

ACT Party leader David Seymour said the changes would be ‘‘constitutionally dangerous’’, and only served to aid the Government’s electioneering.

‘‘... The Labour Party believes rightly or wrongly, that this will make it harder for the opposition to raise money.’’

Green Party justice spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said the party wanted to see a lower threshold for donations disclosure, but not an outright ban on anonymous donations.

Ghahraman said questions had been raised about foreign countries and big corporations wielding disproportionate influence over elected officials.

National Party justice spokesman Paul Goldsmith said the party’s caucus would discuss the issue today.

A spokeswoman for the Mā ori Party said the party would announce its position on the possible changes to electoral law once a bill is introduced to the House.