Let’s have a real democracy not a dollar democracy
The Green Party today released its proposals for campaign finance reform. These proposals seek to limit the influence on money on the democratic process to ensure that we have a real democracy not a dollar democracy.
“One of the greatest threats to democracy and freedom is the corrosive influence of money on politics. If we are to avoid going down the path of the United States, where access to hundreds of millions of dollars is essential to political success, then we need to take steps to protect our democracy,†says Russel Norman, Green Party Co-Leader and Electoral Reform Spokesperson.
“We need to learn from the problems of the last election campaign to make sure that our elections remain a contest of who has the most popular policies rather than who has the most money.
“In order the help achieve this, the Greens are proposing a series of changes based on the principle of transparency, a level playing field, and avoiding parties becoming entirely dependent on the public for funding.
“While we accept that there is not sufficient consensus for partial public funding of political parties, the case for it is even stronger now than when the Royal Commission recommended it 21 years ago. For a cost of $3 million per year, we can help make sure that $52 billion per year in taxpayer funds is spent in the interests of all of us, rather than in the interests of a handful of wealthy backers that funded party campaigns,†says Dr. Norman.
A summary of the proposals (see www.greens.org.nz for the full package):
1. An independent inquiry after the next election to look into the contentious issue of partial public funding of parties as well as campaign financing in general and the enforcement of the rules. This could be a commission of inquiry or a citizens’ assembly as used in Canada.
2. Stop political parties from accepting donations above $1000 unless the source of the money is publicly identified.
3. Ban donations from overseas, except from NZ citizens living overseas and entitled to vote.
4. In the lead up to the election parties must declare donations over $1000 on a weekly basis.
5. No person or entity can donate more than $35,000 to a political party in any twelve month period.
6. Maintain the caps on expenditure and extend them out to the beginning of election year.
7. Non-political parties wishing to spend more than $1000 on the campaign must publicly identify themselves and must spend no more than $50,000 on the campaign.
8. Clarify the rules around the spending of Parliamentary Services money.
9. Remove all political party appointees from the Electoral Commission.
“One of the greatest threats to democracy and freedom is the corrosive influence of money on politics. If we are to avoid going down the path of the United States, where access to hundreds of millions of dollars is essential to political success, then we need to take steps to protect our democracy,†says Russel Norman, Green Party Co-Leader and Electoral Reform Spokesperson.
“We need to learn from the problems of the last election campaign to make sure that our elections remain a contest of who has the most popular policies rather than who has the most money.
“In order the help achieve this, the Greens are proposing a series of changes based on the principle of transparency, a level playing field, and avoiding parties becoming entirely dependent on the public for funding.
“While we accept that there is not sufficient consensus for partial public funding of political parties, the case for it is even stronger now than when the Royal Commission recommended it 21 years ago. For a cost of $3 million per year, we can help make sure that $52 billion per year in taxpayer funds is spent in the interests of all of us, rather than in the interests of a handful of wealthy backers that funded party campaigns,†says Dr. Norman.
A summary of the proposals (see www.greens.org.nz for the full package):
1. An independent inquiry after the next election to look into the contentious issue of partial public funding of parties as well as campaign financing in general and the enforcement of the rules. This could be a commission of inquiry or a citizens’ assembly as used in Canada.
2. Stop political parties from accepting donations above $1000 unless the source of the money is publicly identified.
3. Ban donations from overseas, except from NZ citizens living overseas and entitled to vote.
4. In the lead up to the election parties must declare donations over $1000 on a weekly basis.
5. No person or entity can donate more than $35,000 to a political party in any twelve month period.
6. Maintain the caps on expenditure and extend them out to the beginning of election year.
7. Non-political parties wishing to spend more than $1000 on the campaign must publicly identify themselves and must spend no more than $50,000 on the campaign.
8. Clarify the rules around the spending of Parliamentary Services money.
9. Remove all political party appointees from the Electoral Commission.