Lobbying
Who asked, and how they got in the door. A donation is legal. It is not proof a decision was bought.
- No public list of lobbyists. No cooling-off period. Australia has a register. The OECD ranked New Zealand fourth-worst of 38 countries for lobbying rules.
- A gift to the party is not a Cabinet conflict. A gift to the minister personally is. The Auditor-General said people still distrust fast-track decisions for that reason.
- MPs list houses and companies. They do not list who lobbied them.
- Old Beehive staff get hired to lobby. Andrew Kirton ran Hipkins' office, then Woolworths' government relations. Ellen Read, Ardern's deputy press secretary, had that Woolworths job first. Steven Joyce, a former National minister, sits on the Foodstuffs board. Andrew Ketels, Seymour's former chief of staff, joined a firm that works for Foodstuffs after a short Woolworths contract.
New Zealand National Party
Builders, oil and gas, big food and tobacco want faster consents and weaker health and climate rules.
ACT New Zealand
Farms, oil, think tanks and supermarket lobbyists want a smaller state and weaker rules.
New Zealand First
Racing, mines, quarries, fishing and tobacco want tax breaks and fast-track yeses. Peters is the Racing minister. Costello holds tobacco.
New Zealand Labour Party
Unions sit inside the party. Old Labour staff now lobby for the supermarket giants. Almost none of the fast-track company money.
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
Green groups, unions and a few rich climate donors. They now want a donation cap and a public lobbyist list.
The Opportunity Party
Wants a lobbyist list and a donation cap, while taking six-figure gifts to get over 5%.
Te Pāti Māori
Not a corporate-donor party. The access question is the overlap of party, charity and government contracts.