Maria
Armoudian, University
of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Ben
Dekker, University
of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, and Timothy
Kirpal Kuhner, University
of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
With
polling day still a month away, large political donations
declared in 2026 have
reached about NZ$7.4 million, already surpassing the
total for 2023.
Of election-year donations above
$20,000 that parties must
disclose to the Electoral Commission, the ACT Party
leads with $2.35 million from 48 donors, followed closely by
National on $2.29 million. Labour has received $890,301 and
New Zealand First $833,000.
Political funding
doesn’t necessarily reflect electoral support. ACT, which
won 8.6% of the party vote in 2023, has attracted nearly
seven times as much in large donations this year as the
Green Party, which won 11.6% last election.
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This
surge in donations has
renewed debate over New Zealand’s political funding
rules. Unlike some comparable countries, New Zealand places
no
overall cap on how much a person or company can donate
to a political party.
The debate also reflects
concerns about whether large donations give wealthy
individuals and organisations greater access to, or
influence over, political
decision-makers.
International research has
found governments can be more responsive to affluent
citizens and organised interests than to people with fewer
resources. New Zealand research has
also examined the access and influence sought by major
political donors.
Similar concerns were raised by
the 2023
Independent Electoral Review, which warned of risks to
electoral integrity and public confidence where donations or
loans could give some people undue influence over parties
and candidates.
The
Greens and Opportunity
have now proposed a $30,000 cap per donor per election
cycle, a ban on company donations and disclosure of
donations above $1,000.
Against this backdrop, we
examined which groups and industries have funded New
Zealand’s political parties – and what options exist to
tighten the rules.
Where the donations come
from
Electoral Commission data analysed by RNZ
shows some significant differences in donation sources
across political parties this year. Organisations account
for 62% of National’s large donations, compared with 35%
for ACT and 26% for Labour.
Individuals account
for most large donations to other parties, including 69% for
New Zealand First and all of those received by the Greens
and Te Pāti Māori.
The largest declared donation
so far this year was $500,000 from Rank Group, owned by
billionaire businessman Graeme Hart, to National. Rank Group
has given $700,000 across National and ACT this
year.
In our own analysis, we examined which
industries funded New Zealand political parties between 2019
and 2025 and found distinct patterns in where their
financial support came from.
National received its
largest contributions from donors associated with real
estate, manufacturing, investment, finance, agriculture and
fisheries. Act benefited heavily from real estate,
investment and agriculture, while New Zealand First also
received significant funding from these sectors and
fisheries.
The pattern was different elsewhere.
Labour’s largest sources included professionals, party
personnel and businesses interested in renewable energy and
sustainable enterprises, agriculture and
transport.
The Greens
received significant funding from MPs, personnel and party
members and businesses focused on green-growth. Te Pāti
Māori was funded predominantly by party members and
supporters.
We can’t draw a direct line between
individual donations and particular policies from these
findings. But some parties receive significant funding from
industries affected by government decisions – an important
consideration in the debate over donation
limits.
How New Zealand compares
Other
democracies have imposed, or are moving towards, tougher
controls on who can donate to political parties or how much
they can give.
Canada
bans corporate donations at the federal level and limits
individual contributions. Australia
is introducing a A$50,000 annual cap on donations to a
single recipient from January 2027, along with a lower
disclosure threshold and limits on election
spending.
The
UK is also moving to tighten its political finance
rules, particularly around foreign money and company
donations. Its reforms come amid renewed
scrutiny of large political gifts and concerns about
overseas influence.
New Zealand’s rules also
allow some donations to be made without the recipient party
knowing the donor’s identity, through the Electoral
Commission’s protected-disclosure
scheme.
This year, National has
received more than $300,000 through the scheme, while
Opportunity, New Zealand First and ACT have also received
protected donations.
What could New Zealand
do?
Calls
to tighten New Zealand’s rules predate this year’s
surge in political donations.
The 2023 Independent
Electoral Review recommended banning donations and loans
from companies and other organisations and limiting
individual donations to each party to $30,000 per election
cycle. It also called for stricter rules around anonymous
donations and increased state funding for election
campaigns.
These recommendations – broadly in
line with some policies that parties are proposing this
election – were ultimately not adopted.
Greater
public funding is another option. New Zealand already
provides some state funding for election broadcasting, with
$4.1
million allocated to parties for the 2026
election.
Expanding that approach would come at a
cost to taxpayers. But greater public funding could reduce
parties’ reliance on large private donors, one of the aims
of the reforms recommended by the Independent Electoral
Review.
With record large sums flowing to political
parties this year, the debate over who funds New Zealand
politics – and under what rules – is unlikely to end on
election day.
From the cost of living
to how best to tackle climate change, the coming election
involves some big choices.
This article is
part of The Conversation’s Election
2026 series: expert analysis of the major policy debates
and the big challenges New Zealand’s next government will
face.
Maria
Armoudian, Associate Professor, Politics & International
Relations; Director, Sustainability Hub, University
of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Ben
Dekker, Research Assistant, Faculty of Arts and
Education, University
of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, and Timothy
Kirpal Kuhner, Associate Professor, School of Law,
University
of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
This article is republished from The Conversation
under a Creative Commons license. Read the original
article.
