Dear Friend,

The Government are gearing up to use Winston Peters's and Jami-Lee Ross’s donation scandals to justify replacing electoral donations with taxpayer funded political parties.

I’m emailing to ask for your help to fight back on behalf of taxpayers.

Here’s a different idea for cleaning up political donations, which is similar and more cost-effective than taxpayer funding: obey the law.

Politicians should let the Serious Fraud Office do its job, instead of exploiting the situation to get their hands on more of your money.

Just this morning, the Greens were on Radio New Zealand calling for reform. Labour’s friendly activists have been in the media calling for the same. And it’s no pipe dream: the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously said she’s keen on the idea.

James Shaw says “We have a donor-driven democracy, and we’ve got to get rid of that.” That’s code for the Greens taking your money.

We pay taxes for public services, not propaganda. To help us fight the Greens' latest campaign, click here to chip-in.

Taxpayer funding for political parties cements the status quo and makes it even harder for new political parties, or groups outside of Parliament, to hold politicians to account.

State funding would also negate the need for parties to build broad membership bases. This is particularly important under MMP because nearly half our MPs are elected through party lists, rather than directly by voters. Taxpayer funding would let parties ignore their members' views when selecting candidates.

Like MPs' pay increases, taxpayer funding of parties could come from nowhere, and be passed through Parliament very quickly. That’s why we need your financial support now to ensure there is a strong voice ready to campaign against these proposals. Click here to voluntarily support the Taxpayers’ Union – so you’re not supporting the Greens with your taxpayer money come this year’s election.

Thank you for your support.

David Farrar Co-founder New Zealand Taxpayers' Union