June 12, 2017 7:00am by David Farrar

Metiria vs Gareth

The Opportunities Party leader Gareth Morgan is donating $1 million to charity to make a point about how difficult it is for smaller political parties to make a splash in New Zealand.

The multi-millionaire, who launched the political party last year, is using the $41,000 of taxpayer’s money that his party has been allocated for broadcasting time and topping it up to $1m, which four charities will receive a share of depending on how many votes they get.

“Instead of wasting all that money on yelling at you we thought it would be better to give you a chance to show you care, think about what worries you most and vote for a charity that helps pick up the pieces,” Morgan said.

The four charities that have been selected are Women’s Refuge, Conservation Volunteers, KidsCan and Lifeline – to donate people can go to the The Opportunities Party website and watch a political video about the party’s policies, and then vote for the charity they’d like to receive the money.

Morgan’s strategy has been slammed by Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei as a “gratuitous and cynical way to buy votes”.

“Organisations like Women’s Refuge are in desperate need of more money and support and people want those organisations to have more resources, and we and others have been fighting for that for a long time. But this is really just an attempt to use that need for his own private benefit and to buy votes.”

“It’s not altruistic; it’s about the election and him winning more votes. It will remind people of his botched attempt to buy the Abel Tasman beach and his complete miscalculation about the point of that campaign, which was to make sure that land was being held in public hands through generous donations from a wide range of New Zealanders.

“It was another attempt by him to use his wealth for his own private benefit,” she said.

He’s basically saying if you watch our advertisement then we’ll donate to the charity you choose.

The furious reaction from the Greens suggests they are worried he will take votes off them.