Stick to the cake stalls

February 01, 2014 Taxpayers' Union

This morning the NZ Herald reported that the Green Party want taxpayers to foot even more of the bill for political parties:

“The Green Party believes the rules could be amended further. It wants an inquiry to investigate state funding for election campaigns.

A spokeswoman said: "We see partial public funding of parties as a further step to help level the playing field between parties and to help combat parties being captured by wealthy interests."

The party said it was important that the level of public funding was not set so high that the parties did not need to go to the community for more money.

The Greens were heavily dependent on their 14 MPs, who donated nearly $250,000.”

In a democracy it is up to the public to decide which party, policies and personalities they want representing them in the corridors of power. The popular prosper and the shunned struggle.

Despite all the rhetoric that private money is bad for politics, it is better than public money cementing the status quo. "Equalling the playing field" by giving political parties taxpayer subsidies gives political incumbents a huge advantage. It makes it more difficult for new political movements to get off the ground. It means that the media gain even more influence.

As it currently stands, the taxpaying public already hand over generous subsidies to political parties so they can in turn be force-fed political propaganda in the lead-up to every election. In the 2011 election alone, taxpayers paid up $3.2m for the privilege.

So, should it really be the taxpayers’ role to support dead-beat political parties whose activists struggle to solicit donations for unpopular policies? Absolutely not.

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