Some Wellington mayoral candidates appear to miss donations declaration deadline
Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Some major Wellington council candidates appear to have missed the deadline for declaring campaign donations and expenses.
The deadline for the legally required returns to the Wellington City Council was 5pm Wednesday with the council planning to put them straight on the website when they arrived.
Mayor Andrew Little was the only main mayoral candidate to have his forms in on time and loaded on the website. It was possible others had been filed but not located by the council, a spokesperson confirmed.
Little received $37,209 in declarable donations and spent $58,990. Donations under $1500 do not need to be declared.
Read more:
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Mayoral candidate Ray Chung, who led the Independent Together (IT) campaign backed by the group Better Wellington, raised eyebrows for his high-profile, and seemingly high-cost campaign.
While Chung was yet to return his donations and expenses, fellow IT candidates have done so. Guy Nunns, Stuart Wong and Michelle McGuire declared $11,681 each from Better Wellington while Paula Muollo got $11,894. Ken Ah Kuoi declared no Better Wellington funding but received $500 from a friend.
Better Wellington was the genesis for IT, and electoral officer Warwick Lampp said he would have to go back to the IT candidates for more information. Rules stated that for donations of more than $1500, the original donor had to be identified.
Following the 2022 election, a group of Hutt City candidates were investigated for a similar incident and were found to have misinterpreted the rules.
An incorporated society, United Hutt Inc, collected the donations and distributed them amongst the United Hutt candidates, who only declared the incorporated society as donors on their returns, effectively excluding any information about the group’s financial bakers.
Back in Wellington, mayoral runner-up and elected councillor Karl Tiefenbacher received $16,480 in declarable donations from individuals and spent $50,617. Mayoral candidate and elected councillor Diane Calvert did not have hers online but said she gave physical and paper copies to staff before deadline.
She supplied a copy to The Post showing one $2000 donation and $16,000 spending.
Alex Baker, who missed out on his council and mayoral run, was also yet to have his declaration published.
Also-ran mayoral candidates Scott Caldwell, Josh Harford, and Pennywize have filed. Pennywize, whose campaign satirised the IT team and who dressed like a clown, had expenses including red noses, a wig, makeup and face paint.
Mayoral candidates have a $60,000 spending cap in the three months to the October election.
Little was one of just two of the main mayoral candidates to reveal his declarable donations prior to voting. “I'm campaigning on a platform of greater transparency and accountability, so it’s important I model that in my own campaign.”
Chung boasted a $200,000 IT war chest during the campaign, when he refused to reveal his donations but pledged to “comply with legal requirements”. Calvert and Tiefenbacher also refused though Calvert confirmed she received one $2000 donation.
Spending limits are lower for council candidates and are dictated by the population of each ward. Motukairangi/Eastern and Paekawakawa/Southern are $20,000 while the rest are $30,000 with the exception of Te Whanganui-a-Tara which is $14,000.
Lily Brown, Dan Milward, and Andrea Compton ‒ who all ditched IT mid-campaign ‒ confirmed they were each declaring about $3000 or a little more from Better Wellington for money it spent before their departure. Compton’s declaration confirms this.
Story updated at 2.20pm on December 11, 2025 with details of Diane Calvert’s campaign donations and expenses.