On the Tiles: The ‘remarkable levels of access’ political donors get for their money

There are certain advantages to giving politicians bit donations. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A new report into the world of political donations sheds light on what political donors get in exchange for their hard-earned cash.

Max Rashbrooke, the co-author of the ‘Money of Something’ report, interviewed a collection of high-profile political donors, each of whom spent more than $15,000 to parties across the political spectrum.

In today’s episode of the On the Tiles podcast, he explains in detail why the donors do it and what they actually get in exchange for the money they give to political parties.

Rashbrooke explains that one donor who had given about $50,000 to a political party explained that it did give him a few advantages when it came to his dealings with politicians.

“They all denied that they gained influence – and they would say that,” Rashbrooke says.

“But then when we pushed on things, they revealed some pretty remarkable levels of access to politicians.”

He says one donor he spoke to talked quite casually about the level of access they had to former politicians, with them coming around for lunches or stopping for conversations on the street.

Rashbrooke provides a compelling argument for what that access entails, why we should all be concerned about it and what it means for our political system.

Listen to the full episode of this podcast for a fascinating look behind the veil of one of the dodgier sides of New Zealand politics, and what the options are for changing the system.

• On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays.
• You can find more New Zealand Herald podcasts at nzherald.co.nz/podcasts or on iHeartRadio.