The recent revelation of unrecorded discussions between farming lobbyists and government ministers is an exact example of why change is urgently needed to raise standards of political integrity and maintain trust in the practice of democracy. Transparency International NZ says there are three priority areas: lobbying regulation, transparency of political donations and reduction in the use of urgency.
Lobbying
"New Zealand is well behind our country peers in regulating lobbying." says Anne Tolley, Chair of Transparency International NZ (TINZ) "We have seen the results over several parliamentary terms: where industries and other interest groups with deep pockets, friends in high places and easy access to power are unevenly influencing government policy. All without public visibility."
If we had lobbying regulation, we would know who wants to influence whom, on what. It would encourage better behaviour by politicians and by lobbyists. It would go part way to evening up the lobbying playing field for all those wanting to influence government policy.
Lobbying regulation should include stand-down periods for people moving between parliament and industry. In 2022 National called for a cooling-off period, following the direct move of a Labour Govt Cabinet minister into lobbying consultancy. Now is the time to put that call into action. The fast-track appointment of the President of Federated Farmers to Minister for Food Safety and Associate Minister of Agriculture shapes an uncomfortably close relationship between farming interest groups and government. The reported Ministerial diary imbalance between Ministerial meetings with farming industry groups and Ministerial meetings with environmental groups does nothing to allay those perceptions of an uneven playing field of influence.
Political Donations
We need better controls and more transparency. "We are only just now able to check where 2025 donations under $20,000 came from." says Julie Haggie, TINZ’s Executive Director.
Recent media analysis has shown political donations connected to fast-track legislation. Real-time transparency would show that before the election, as happens in Queensland. Other controls include limitations on anonymous donations (are on the increase); and caps on donations, to limit the influence of individual donors. Corporate donors should have to disclose the beneficial owners of their companies (who controls the companies) not just legal owners or Directors. This would help deter foreign actors routing donations through domestic proxies. New Zealand absolutely needs a register of beneficial ownership to shed light on those who hide illicit funds in multi layered financial structures.
Urgency
"There has been a sharp rise in the use of urgency including by the current government using it for over half of all legislation it has passed." says Tolley. "This circumvents essential democratic practices such as public participation, independent expert advice, and integrity checks."
"We call for a ‘positive test’ for urgency so that it is used in exceptional situations, and a case is clearly made. This would need commitment from all political parties."
If urgency becomes the modus operandi of governments, then democracy loses validity for the public, and that is a dangerous step towards authoritarianism. People need to see Parliamentarians actively debating policy options and considering the views of citizens and interested groups, not collaring more power without consultation.
"Power can so easily be corrupted" says Tolley. "To hold that in check we must have accountability, scrutiny, transparency and checks and balances at Parliament. We urge politicians across Parliament to uphold their often stated support for democracy and integrity by taking action on lobbying, political donations and urgency."
