National President Peter Goodfellow has confirmed that Jami-Lee Ross was correct when he told The Nation that National party candidates are set fundraising targets. He also confirmed that JLR was correct when he said that members and local party electorate committees are “encouraged” to donate to the National Foundation.
Of course, JLR had a lot more to say to The Nation than just those two points, and rather than strongly deny the other accusations Goodfellow instead chose to say nothing.
If anyone knows how the National Party works when it comes to their foundation and donations it would be JLR as he was both a board member and a key fundraiser for the party. He told The Nation that National MPs face “repercussions” if they don’t make their fundraising targets.
His other claims were:
- “If you did not fundraise your $30,000 or $20,000, you weren’t allowed to go to selection.
- Every MP was expected to ensure there were donations going into the National Foundation.
- If they didn’t attract enough money from donors, MPs might not get to be a minister.
“John Key sat in caucus one year and put a rocket up us and said, ‘If you don’t donate through your electorate to the National Foundation, then we’re going to ensure there may be repercussions – you may not be a minister or there may be other issues. MPs are expected to donate.”
Ross also claimed that NZ First’s foundation was actually a copy of National’s and that it operates in largely the same way. He explained that the Electoral Commission is actually powerless and that the only organisations that have the power to challenge a political foundation are the Police or the Serious Fraud Office.
Ross said political party foundations exist only as a way of obscuring donors’ identities and should be abolished.
“If everything is declared… what is the very purpose of having a foundation? … They have these foundations there so they can find ways through the electoral law in a way that isn’t as transparent as the public would expect…
“I’m of the view that if you can’t vote in an election you shouldn’t be able to make a donation, you shouldn’t be able to make a loan. Politics and democracy is about people – it’s not about foundations or companies or other organisations. It should be restricted to people.”
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