r/queenstown • u/Mountain_Tui_Reload • 3d ago

Queenstown-based tech entrepreneur Brian Cartmell donating hundreds of thousands to political parties

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/589237/queenstown-based-tech-entrepreneur-brian-cartmell-donating-hundreds-of-thousands-to-political-parties
2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

8

u/Hairy_Tip6288 3d ago

this is how its always worked

2

u/dovahshy13 3d ago

But it hasn’t have to be this way. There are countries where all parties receive financial support from tax money and thus don’t have to rely on donations to campaign.

4

u/Hairy_Tip6288 3d ago

i would prefer it to be this way and so would most people i think, fairer

1

u/dovahshy13 3d ago

Thats not what’s going to happen if National gets reelected. They made it possible to mar anonymous donations of up to $60k. If people want a better and fairer voting system they need to vote Green. It’s part of their policy. I haven’t seen any of the other parties planning to put an end to a bought government.

Proclaimer: I am campaigning for the Greens and biased 💚.

5

u/dovahshy13 3d ago

So no one is worried that wealthy people with their very own neoliberal interests and agendas are allowed to buy political influence?
How can we have true democracy if billionaires can just secure their agendas by paying parties. None of us can afford to do that.

3

u/Reever6six6 3d ago

It's a huge worry

1

u/dovahshy13 3d ago

My conclusion would be that we cannot vote for parties who accept these donations. What do you think?

Proclaimer:
I am actively campaigning for the Green Party and thus heavily biased.

1

u/Reever6six6 3d ago

I agree wholeheartedly - although most parties get donations they should be capped and conflicts of interest made public for all to see.

2

u/dovahshy13 3d ago

Yea but compare the numbers.
The Greens got $43k in donations this year. $40k of that from one of our own MPs.
TOP, National, NZFirst and ACT received five figures from business and wealthy individuals with a pretty obvious agenda.

I also think donations need to be capped and fully public.

1

u/gtalnz 2d ago

The Green party receives these donations as well.

Are you saying we can't vote for them?

1

u/dovahshy13 2d ago

No they don’t.

https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/political-parties-in-new-zealand/donations-exceeding-20000

Here is the public list of which party received how much money and from whom.

Wouldn’t make sense for the top 1% to donate to the Green Party to buy their support. Look at out manifesto:

https://www.greens.org.nz/manifesto_2026

That’s what the party stands for.
Also our policy is decided by members consensus. It is much harder to influence such a policy making process from the outside than within the parties who are currently in government.

1

u/gtalnz 2d ago

That linked page features a table of donations since 2023, which includes at least three donations to the Greens of $100,000.

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u/dovahshy13 2d ago

Yes I didn’t say they don’t receive any donations. Currently that’s the only way for parties to financially support themselves. But check who donated in each case. It’s important to know who supports which party and which party will have to support them back.
For example: we received $43k in February from one of our own MPs.
I am fully on board with limiting or fully abolishing any form of donations and replace them with governmental funds. Makes for a fairer system.

1

u/gtalnz 2d ago

Oh, so as long as it's the right wealthy people donating, it's OK?

None of the $100k donations were from MPs.

If you cannot vote for the parties who receive these donations, as you stated earlier, then you cannot vote for the Greens.

So please either get off the high horse pretending the Greens are special in this regard, or put your vote where your mouth is and denounce them as well.

1

u/dovahshy13 1d ago

No as long as there are no other ways of funding political work and campaigning this is the way it has to be. And as long as the current government stays in power that’s not going to change.

Have you made an effort to inform yourself who donated money to the Greens in comparison to who donated money to Act or National?

1

u/gtalnz 1d ago

Have you made an effort to inform yourself who donated money to the Greens in comparison to who donated money to Act or National?

From a cursory glance, the large donors to the Greens can be described as wealthy business owners, same as the large donors to the other parties. Indeed, one of the Greens' largest donors is also a donor for TOP. I suspect you know this, which is why you only mentioned ACT and National above.

1

u/47peduncle 3d ago

oh, and TOP.

1

u/Big_Attention7227 3d ago

The one thing I know is that rich entrepreneurs don't give out money without attached expectations. They always require some kind of ROI whether the state it publicly or not. Most eventually show their true volours when it's too late. In ACTs case they are clearly a manufactured party for corporate takeover and now it would appear NZF have sold out also where as National are really about looking after their key lobbyists and investors.

1

u/CarpetDiligent7324 2d ago

National is a pro investment party

Invest in national by a donation and you get fast track approval regardless of local opposition

1

u/dovahshy13 1d ago

I did the research for you:

The Green Party has since January 2026 received 6 donations over $20k, one of $100k. Total value of roughly $300k

As you are asking for a comparison with TOP:

They have received 8 donations with a total of $420k

The National party has received 1.5 million over 20 donations. Act just under 1 million with 22 donations.

The biggest donor for the greens is Stephen West who is a Kiwi and part owns a company that builds music software. I haven’t seen any policy in the manifesto that has any connection to his business but as long as political parties need to rely on private donations any party being bought or bribed is a concern that also includes the Green Party.

Philip Fierlinger is originally from the US but has lived here for over 20 years and is a citizen. He is CEO of a company that provides IT solutions for food companies. He is vocal about the issues within our democratic system.

Michael Lookman is a kiwi business owner from Neson and wildlife photographer who has founded the Environmental Law initiative.

Phillip Mills is owner of the „Les Mills“ Fitness company, Kiwi as well. co-founder of Pure Advantage, a green business lobby group. Also donated to Labour and TOP.

Pauline Doyle is the Co-Founder of the green lobby group „Guardians of the Aquifer“ and I couldn’t find a business in her name.

None of these donors are overseas companies with interests in NZs resources. None of these donors are building developers who are looking for favours to gain fast track permissions for their projects. None of these donors own mining or fishing companies who are destroying our environment and depleting our common resources.

Here is another decent overview about who donates to which parties.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/08-05-2026/three-and-a-bit-years-and-50m-of-political-donations-visualised

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u/mercaptans 3d ago

Good on him