Green Party proposes donation cap and lobbyist register
The Green Party has written two members' bills to tighten the rules on political donations and lobbying.
The bills — both members' bills, which are proposed laws from MPs who are not ministers — are the Electoral (Donations) Amendment Bill and the Regulation of Lobbying Bill, RNZ reported on 22 September 2026.
The donations bill would cap what one person can give at $30,000. It would ban donations from companies, trusts and other organisations, including unions.
It would lower the disclosure threshold, the point at which donors are named. The names and postcodes of donors who give more than $1,000 in a year would be published, down from $6,000.
The lobbying bill would set up a public register of professional lobbyists, people paid to influence decision-makers. Those on the register would have to report every four months on who they lobbied and what they lobbied for.
It would create an independent Lobbying Integrity Commission. The commission would run the register, write the code of conduct and enforce the rules.
The bill would set stand-down periods before former office-holders can move into lobbying. Ministers would face two years. MPs, ministerial staff and senior public servants would face one year.
The broader context here is how the two bills would work as a package. One covers money into parties. The other covers access to decision-makers afterwards. That pairing matters for fundraising strategy and for record-keeping and contact practice.
Looking at what this means for party operations, the questions are practical. More individual donors would mean more admin. Parties would need systems to track totals, confirm donor status and manage returns for a wider group of named donors.
In my view, the lobbying proposal turns on definitions and enforcement. Who counts as a lobbyist, what counts as lobbying and which contacts trigger a report will set workload and coverage. Four-monthly reports would build a steady record, useful only if searchable, timely and complete. One commission would centralise the register, code and enforcement, and people in the field will weigh how the two-year and one-year stand-downs are monitored and what sanctions apply.
