Politics<\/p>\n
12 Mar, 2022 04:00 PM3 minutes to read<\/p>\n
Act leader David Seymour will declare nearly $1m in donations from wealthy New Zealanders. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
Act will declare $850,000 of donations on Monday from some of the wealthiest New Zealanders, including a $100,000 donation from billionaire Graeme Hart, who tops the rich list.<\/p>\n
Act leader David Seymour says the donations are part of a drive by the Act party which has raised almost $1 million. The remaining roughly $150,000 has come from smaller donations, which do not have to have their donors declared.<\/p>\n
Alongside Hart, the big donors are Rod Drury, Craig Turner, Graham Edwards, Dame Jenny Gibbs, Murray Chandler, and John Harman, who donated $100,000 each.<\/p>\n
Stephen Jennings, Grant Baker, and Mike Thorburn donated $50,000 each. <\/p>\n
Seymour said the donations were from people who were not \"particularly political\", and he did not know conclusively whether any of the names on the list were Act party members. <\/p>\n
He said the donors were \"worried about two things: the state of democracy, the rushed legislation and the uncertainty it creates; and the policy direction which they see as being anti-aspirational and I think the reason they have connected that with Act is they want to see meaningful change in New Zealand\".<\/p>\n
Seymour said current polling showed that the Government could change at the next election, which made it increasingly likely Act would have a role in the next Government. <\/p>\n
\"I think the Government will change and recent polls have shown that's more and more likely - the question is change to what? That's where Act comes in,\" Seymour said. <\/p>\n
Seymour said he'd been bringing the donations together for a couple of months. <\/p>\n
\"A lot of these people - and I've been talking to them a lot in the last month or two while we've been bringing this together - their view is usually a long-term view.<\/p>\n
\"They say, 'we're very concerned about the current Government, but we're also concerned about New Zealand's long-term direction, and after 90 years of Labour and National, maybe it's time to ask how do we make sure we get the values that make New Zealand a prosperous country cemented in a more serious way',\" Seymour said.<\/p>\n
Seymour has recently booked large donations from Troy Bowker and Mark Wyborn.<\/p>\n
Political parties must declare the names of donors when they donate more than $15,000 to a party in a year. The donation must be declared within 10 working days if it is more than $30,000.<\/p>\n
Under those rules, Act will need to declare the names of its 10 large donors on Monday. <\/p>\n
Seymour said the large donations were not the end of the party's donations drive.<\/p>\n
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Act party donations drive nets almost $1 million from rich listers - New Zealand Herald<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Politics 12 Mar, 2022 04:00 PM3 minutes to read Act leader David Seymour will declare nearly $1m in donations from wealthy New Zealanders. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell Act will declare $850,000 of donations on Monday from some of the wealthiest New Zealanders, including a $100,000 donation from billionaire Graeme Hart, who tops the rich list Continue reading