Episode description
Episode description
In today's Focus on Politics podcast Political Reporter Anneke Smith exposes the vulnerable state of New Zealand's democracy and examines the political response.
"What's good about this country politically is on pretty shaky foundations. It wouldn't be hard to wreck it," - legal expert Tim Kuhner
New Zealand has a "historic opportunity" to reform laws that expose its electoral system to corruption, a legal expert says.
Politics has been dogged by donations scandals, with the Serious Fraud Office currently prosecuting both Labour and National in the High Court.
While some changes are being made ahead of next year's election, they're contested, specific and will come ahead of a sweeping review of the electoral system Timothy Kuhner argues is a rare chance to make more meaningful fixes.
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A fullbright senior scholar in Spain where he studied United States democracy, Kuhner's now an associate professor at the University of Auckland. His report card for Aotearoa's protections against corruption is not positive.
"I assumed, coming here and seeing its reputation for such low levels of corruption, that it was a pretty regulated set of electoral laws ... when I learned that there's no rules in terms of limiting donations or the source of donations besides foreign individuals and entities - and that's been pretty recent that was drastically limited - and seeing that there's really essentially no regulation of the lobbying industry, I was pretty taken aback by that.
"It made me think that what's good about this country politically is on pretty shaky foundations. It wouldn't be hard to wreck it."
He says the ideological battle over the influence of big corporations has played itself out across the world, and has already arrived in New Zealand.
"The results of it are that we lose our ability to conceive of politics as a place where everyone matters and where non-economic values should be aired and respected; where politics becomes a marketplace, and so everything that isn't really profitable to the people who have the most power economically in society goes into disrepair. That danger has played itself out really well across the world."
Read more:
Electoral changes in the hands of the elected?
Electoral law review sparks demands for faster changes, referendums
Donations trial businessman offered record $33m bail security
Trial: Simon Bridges denies knowing details of donations' source
Andrew Little tells court he was distanced from donations in 'sham donors' trial
Cabinet confirms 'shadow entity' loophole will be closed…