National outraises every other party in 2025, Labour most reliant on small donors
Thursday, 7 May 2026
Newly released donations data shows the governing parties received more than twice what the Opposition did in 2025.
The Electoral Commission on Thursday released completed party donation returns for 2025, showing a combined $14.47 million donated to parties currently in Parliament.
National raised the most - and substantially more than any other party, almost treble the amount Labour rose:
National: $6,275,234
ACT: $2,445,256
Labour: $2,403,242
Green Party: $1,848,679
NZ First: $1,368,273
Te Pāti Māori: $141,987
Of parties outside of Parliament, only Opportunity (formerly TOP) received more than $10,000 - netting $179,401 in donations.
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Government parties in total raised $10m - well over double the $4.4m managed by Opposition parties.
Labour more reliant on small donations
The format of donations was strikingly different between parties, with Labour and the Greens far more reliant on smaller donations.
Over half of Labour’s funding came from donations of less than $1500 - compared to just 18% of NZ First’s.
Labour received 65,000 donations in amounts lower than $1500 - making for $1.4m of its $2.4m in donations, or 58%.
The Greens received 21,000 donations under $1500 for $856,000 of its $1.8m total, or 46%.
National received around 19,000 donations under $1500, totalling around $2.1m of its $6.2m haul, or 34%.
ACT received 11,000 smaller donations to a total of $775,000 of its $2.4m total.
NZ First had just under 3900 donations under $1500, totalling a tiny $240,000 of its $1.4m total - or 18%.
Still, all parties were somewhat reliant on larger donations - including from Green and Labour MPs, who tithe part of their salary to their parties.
The largest single donation was from the estate of Robert John Wares in Nelson, who donated $210,000 to National.
This was followed by three separate donations of around $200,000 made to National, ACT, and NZ First by Brian Cartmell, an American tech entrepreneur now living in Queenstown.
The Greens received $132,000 from Wellington investor Robert Morgan while Labour received a $125,000 donation from the Mills Family, known for the Les Mills gym empire.