Donation Watch: Te Pāti Māori Get Late July Cash Injection

Wednesday, 2 August 2023, 2:55 pm
Article: Scoop Election Podcast

Te Pāti Māori received a $50,000 donation via John Tamihere in late July 2023. John Tamihere is Te Pāti Māori’s current President and stood unsuccesfully in the 2020 general election as the Te Pāti Māori candidate for Tamaki Makauru.

Recently NZ Herald investigative journalist Matt Nippert has run a number of stories about Te Pāti Māori’s funding. The Herald articles by Mr Nippert explained how a Charities Service investigation into the Waipareira Trust found hundreds of thousands of dollars of political donations to Te Pāti Māori via John Tamihere had breached the Charities Act.

The Herald article from 20 July 2023 highlighted the fact that regulators were still unsure if $385,000, advanced for political campaigns associated with John Tamihere had been repaid.

Other than the New Zealand Herald very few other New Zealand media organisations seem to have been interested in the hundreds of thousands of dollars that have flowed from The Waipareira Trust to Te Pāti Māori.

Veteran broadcaster Sean Plunket did however consider Matt Nippert’s reporting worthy enough to read one of his articles out in its entirety on his The Platform breakfast show.

Other recent donations over $20,000 show a late surge for the Hannah Tamaki political vehicle Vision NZ. Significant money has also come in for the Green Party, National, ACT and New Zealand First.

No significant donations have come in for the New Zealand Labour Party since early June when the New Zealand Meatworkers Union helped spark up a few BBQ’s with $35,000.

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