Mark
It seems lately that Winston Peters and Mayor of Christchurch Lianne Dalziel are getting it a bit on clever ways to hide the identities of big-time donors, by vectoring funds through trusts or charity auctions.
Putting aside what you may think of these people and others doing similar things, there is a bigger issue here.
Is it not my democratic right to put my money where my mouth is without fear of low-level retribution? If I have worked hard, done well, and my experience tells me the policies of a certain party would be good, and I want to support them financially, why should I have to fear being accused of effective bribery by a crazed axe-wielding tree hugger?
Maybe, if I am rich, there is good innovation, acumen and industriousness behind it, instead of the cheating the socialists presume (which usually gets busted in the end.) And maybe my ideas and experience should be listened to for the benefit of the country. If I can create wealth and jobs, maybe others can too.
The socialist argument is that the extra money unfairly stacks the deck in terms of publicity. Putting aside the money they want to give themselves for virtue signalling when in power, I guess this makes all New Zealanders suckers for high paid advertising. As if we simply believe the most expensive or most often played adverts, hook, line and sinker. How’s that for patronising!
The socialists want large donor declarations because they want to name and shame the capitalist pigs, thereby bullying them into submission to cut funding off for the political opposition.
I guess the next stage is to lower the donor threshold. How would you like to be fired because your lesbian boss found out you gave $1,000 to the New Conservatives?
It is one of many pillars of democracy that I have a right to spend my money where I want. If prying eyes slander me for that, I am not really free. They are completely free to speak against the parties I support, but if I face consequences for supporting a party financially, we have slipped into fascism.
Give the devil an inch, he’ll take a mile.