The dramatic salivations by the MSM over New Zealand First Foundation revelations are nothing more than a storm in a teacup. While it might be argued that it’s morally corrupt and inappropriate and unacceptable and deceitful or even fraudulent, the ultimate outcome will be that there’s nothing illegal about it – and that will be that.
Furthermore, NZ First isn’t the first (pardon the pun) and won’t be the last political party to do this. Unless of course the heavy-handed COL does what it’s already done to gun owners and brings the sledgehammer in to swat the mosquito.
Why do we need to know who’s donating what to political parties?
Well, the simple answer is: We want to know who’s paying the piper and what they’re expecting in return. Is a donor buying political capital with their donation? Will they personally benefit from making a large donation?
However, doesn’t demanding to know who and how much is contributed an attack on the most basic principle of democratic freedom? It’s surely a matter of personal choice and personal freedom. Is it even much different from the right to privacy when casting a vote? Isn’t this pretty much the kind of thing our forebears fought two world wars over?
Meanwhile, be very careful what you wish for.
There are already loud cries for electoral law reform to ensure political donations are transparent or even (heaven forbid) that they be funded by the taxpayer.
Given this government’s proclivity for knee-jerk reaction and rushed legislation with scant regard for the unintended consequences, we need to be very careful about what we incite them to act on before it becomes inevitable.
If we take just a few minutes to ask how much respect we have for our current politicians and the decisions they’re already making, it won’t take more than a few seconds to respectfully decline the offer to fund their future election campaigns from the public purse.
We already deeply resent how they wantonly spend squander our (stolen) tax dollars on completely unnecessary and ill-conceived, pie in the sky ideology, while consistently neglecting real issues such as infrastructure, housing, health and education.
Let us not even think about a journey into public funding of political parties. At least not until or unless we have some clear evidence of corruption and abuses that might make such an exercise necessary.
We’re surely a long way short of that right now and even with public funding – how will they police donations or will they be banned completely? One hundred people at a $100 per person dinner – legal? What about two hundred? What about raffles? What about gala days?
It can only become yet another restriction of civil liberties.