Greens advocate US style funding

What hypocrites. The Greens rail against US-style political finance consistently, using it to justify their support for the now deceased Electoral Finance Act and proposed Lobbying Transparency Bill.

Pete George blogs:

The Greens have been accused of using child poverty to mislead people into donating to them.

But a spokesman for New Zealand’s third-largest party said they were simply adopting fundraising techniques used by the likes of United States President Barack Obama.

A spokesman for the Greens said there was nothing suspect in the request for donations.

All donations received would go towards the party’s campaign to end child poverty.

“Ending child poverty requires political action. Our campaign is about getting rid of the political causes of poverty,” he said.

“Our fundraising appeals are consistent with recent developments in email fundraising. Many people now prefer to fund specific campaigns rather than parties.”

Mr Obama’s campaign team has employed similar tactics in the US presidential campaign, including asking for donations to fund a website dedicated to rebutting political attacks on the him.

The donations do not necessarily go directly to that cause but rather into the wider campaign fund.

Obviously the Green Party can adopt United States political techniques if they wish. It could be seen as smart and slick politics.