Pitched as a plan to "get big money and influence out of politics", the Green Party has written two member's bills to limit political donations and put professional lobbying on the public record.

📋 Greens: Big money out of politics, September 2026 →

What it does

• Caps what any one person can give a party and its candidates at $30,000 an election cycle, through an Electoral (Donations) Amendment Bill.
• Allows donations only from individuals, so companies, trusts and other organisations, including unions, could not donate, RNZ reported.
• Publishes the name and postcode of anyone giving more than $1,000 a year, down from $6,000 now.
• Creates a public register of professional lobbyists under a Regulation of Lobbying Bill, with reports every four months on who they lobbied and for whom, run by an independent Lobbying Integrity Commission that would also set and enforce a code of conduct.
• Makes former ministers wait two years before lobbying, and other MPs, ministerial staff and senior public servants one year.

The debate

• Co-leader Marama Davidson said the proposals follow the 2023 Independent Electoral Review's call for a donations cap and a lower disclosure threshold, and that the rules would apply to the Greens too after the party received a $100,000 donation.
• Researcher Max Rashbrooke, whom the Greens consulted, told Newsroom the cap was unlikely to hurt any one party more than another, but warned that lobbying reform backed in opposition often becomes "suddenly not a priority" once a party is in government.
• Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he had not yet looked at the proposal but there was "absolutely room for improvement" in lobbying rules, Newsroom reported, noting that National's Nicola Willis had backed a lobbyist register and minister stand-downs in 2023.