Jacinda Ardern said National donations 'outside the spirit of the law'

Tuesday, 27 August 2019

The National Party received a $150,000 from a New Zealand company wholly owned by a Chinese

Jacinda Ardern has said a large donation to the National Party broke the 'spirit' of election donation laws.

The National party received a $150,000 donation from a company owned by Lang Lin, a Chinese racing billionaire in 2017.

The donation was the largest the party received over the 2014-17 electoral cycle, the NZ Herald reported.

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Foreign donations to political parties are capped at $1500 in New Zealand, but foreign individuals are able to get around this by donating through a New Zealand company, which is completely legal.

In this case the donation was made by Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Industry NZ (IMRHINZ), a New Zealand company, which is wholly owned by its Chinese parent company.

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While this is legal, Ardern said the donations were 'outside the spirit of the law'.

She said the current law tried to 'prevent foreign interference in elections through large monetary donations'.

One of these protections was a limit on the size of individual donations, which the donation appears to have breached the 'spirit' of.

National leader Simon Bridges said the donation came from a New Zealand company, making it a domestic donation, and disagreed that it broke the 'spirit' of the law.

Bridges did concede that IMRHINZ was wholly owned by a Chinese parent.

'Sure, but the rules are the rules - it is a company, a New Zealand company and we disclosed that,' Bridges said.

He drew comparisons with Xero and Rocket Lab, companies that have have foreign ownership.

The issue has drawn in former Trade Minister and close Bridges ally, Todd McClay.

McClay met Lin in July 2016 when he was in Beijing for a meeting of G20 trade ministers. He met Lin again in Rotorua in April 2017, one month before the party declared the donation.

McClay said that he did not act outside the spirit of the law.

'No, I don't believe that I have,' he said.

He said MFAT officials asked him to meet with members of the racing industry while in Beijing. He said officials were present 'at all times'.

McClay said that Lin only raised that he would like to support the National party when he visited Rotorua.

The Justice Select Committee is currently examining foreign interference in New Zealand elections.

There is the possibility that it could recommend changes to the current rules.

Ardern said the select committee's report would give a 'starting point' which would help the Government decide whether something needed to be changed.

Justice Minister Andrew Little said there were 'emerging issues about the way foreign donations can be concealed'.

He said the companies regime in New Zealand was 'one of the problems'.

'Our companies regime makes it easy for donations to be channelled through that process,' he said.

Bridges said he was 'open' to what the Justice Select Committee suggested

But he said a complete ban on donations from companies would be 'a big call'.

The Green party has also called for donation reform.

Electoral spokesperson, Golriz Ghahraman said the issue was 'deeply alarming'.

She called for individual donations to be capped at $35,000, and reducing the threshold for anonymous donations to $1000.

She also called for a ban on foreign donations.