Donations over $20,000
Just had another look at the Electoral Commission page of donations over $20,000 to political parties. By now any pre-election donations must have been declared. So how much did each party receive in large (over $20k) donations?
- ACT $300,000 (Alan Gibbs $200K, John Boscawen $100k)
- Greens $182,926 (various)
- Labour $160,000 (Velas $100K, EPMU $60k)
- NZ First $100,000 (Velas $60k)
- National $60,000 (John Key $30k, Road Transport Trust $30k)
And almost every large donations is from an individual who is a known supporter. Well plus the Velas whose generosity to Labour was previously unknown.
But just remember these declarations the next time people go on about big money. National had the 5th largest amount of declared over $20k donations.
Of course this is not the full picture. National did receive a lot of money through trusts prior to 2008, but that is all history now. Also there are the anonymous donations through the Electoral Commission – but as it is a serious offence to inform a party you have donated that way, there can be no suspicion of favours for donations. Also in May next year we’ll see any donations over $10K and under $20K that were made.