$500,000 In Political Donations Associated With Fast Track Projects

Thursday, 10 October 2024, 7:07 pm
Article: RNZ

Farah Hancock, Data journalist, In Depth

Companies and shareholders associated with 12 fast-track projects gave more than $500,000 in political donations to National, Act and New Zealand First and their candidates, RNZ analysis shows.

The projects include a quarry extension into conservation land and a development whose owner was publicly supported by National MPs during a legal battle with Kāinga Ora.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones have both told RNZ that perceived or actual conflicts of interest were managed during the selection process for projects to be included in the proposed Fast-track Approvals Bill.

"We followed the Cabinet process, and people can go and search themselves as to what donations have been made either to myself or to the party," Jones told Morning Report.

An RNZ analysis of donations shows entities and individuals associated with 12 of the 149 projects that will be written into the Bill donated to National or its candidates in 2022 or 2023. These projects will be assessed by expert panels as to whether they proceed through the fast-track process.

Two also donated to NZ First or Shane Jones, and two donated a total of $150,000 to Act within the same period.

The proposed Bill - which is currently before a select committee - is touted as a "one-stop shop" for approving infrastructure projects. It would sit over a range of existing acts and regulations and would mean an application would only need to go through one process for approval instead of several consents under the existing system.

The full list of projects approved to apply under the fast-track process include housing, renewable energy, mining, aquaculture, farming and quarrying. The Bill is expected to pass into law by the end of the year.

A spokesperson for Jones said the minister followed Cabinet Manual advice on identifying and managing potential conflicts of interest. They did not confirm if that related to projects where either NZ First or Jones received donations from companies or individuals aligned with the project in question.

Speaking more generally on Morning Report, Jones said: "In the event that entities donate to political parties, those donations are declared through the statutory process. I think it's getting quite tiresome that people immediately leap toward the conclusion that something vile has happened."

Winton development donated $200,000

Winton Land Limited's Sunfield development project in Ardmore, south of Auckland, is one of the larger projects to be included in Schedule 2 of the bill. The company aims to build a community with a school, 3400 houses and three retirement villages.

Its director Christopher Meehan gave $50,000 to Act in 2023 and $103,260 to National. Speargrass Holdings, a company Meehan is a director of, also gave $52,894 to National in 2022. In total, $206,154.23 was donated.

Questions have previously been raised over the donations because Meehan's property development company Winton was locked in a legal battle with the state house provider Kāinga Ora.

About five months after Speargrass Holdings made its donation to National, Chris Bishop - the party's housing spokesperson while in opposition - issued a statement in support of Meehan's case against Kāinga Ora.

Bishop told Newsroom he was unaware of the existing donation when he made the statement, or of plans by Meehan to make further donations. Act's deputy leader and housing spokesperson Brooke van Velden also spoke out in support of the developer.

Meehan told Newsroom he had made political contributions to National and Act for a number of years "to support the democratic process".

In a written statement, Bishop told RNZ that ministers who declared a conflict of interest with a particular fast-track project left the room for discussions related to that project, though he did not say which ministers had left discussions for which projects.

"Details regarding conflicts of interest are not generally disclosed in order to ensure the confidentiality of Cabinet proceedings, to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs and, in some cases, to protect personal privacy. This has been the approach of successive administrations," he said.

Coronet Village $100,000

An alpine village proposed below Coronet Peak including a gondola, ski area, schools and 780 residential units was put forward for fast track consideration by Rod Drury and his company 0to60 along with NZSki Limited, and Coronet Peak Partnership. Rod Drury donated $100,000 to Act in 2022 and in 2023 gave $13,500 to National and $5000 to Green candidate Julie Ann Genter.

Drury said there was almost an expectation that once you're successful, you contribute to the political system with donations. But these were made without expecting favours in return.

Donations were made "not looking to buy influence, but looking to be heard," he said. Donating and attending dinners with politicians present could help to get ideas in front of politicians.

A public meeting would be held in a few weeks with the local community to discuss the Coronet Village project, Drury said.

Kings Quarry

The Kings Quarry Expansion is listed as wanting to expand existing quarrying activities to occupy 60 more hectares of its 152-hectare total site area.

While no donations have been made by the company itself, former director Andrew Ritchie has donated $55,000 to NZ First and $20,000 to the National Party through AJR Finance, a company he is sole director of. AJR Finance has also given $5000 to Shane Jones and $4400 to Labour's Phil Twyford. In total, $84,000 has been given. Andrew Ritchie ceased as a director of Kings Quarry in June of this year, but remains a shareholder.

Kings Quarry's Alexander Semenoff chose not to comment on donations made by the former director, but said the application could mean rock is available to Auckland customers from a local source and would reduce transport emissions.

An expansion project for this quarry was previously included in the Covid-era fast-tracking legislation. An assessment of the ecological effects of that project noted the proposed site was home to many indigenous species, including 50 invertebrate species such as the Auckland tree wētā, nine native birds, including kererū, and the nationally critical pekapeka-tou-roa (long-tailed bat).

Semenoff said the new fast-track application is for a different area of the property.

Carter Group

Three applications from the Carter Group were accepted for fast-track consideration. These include residential developments in Rolleston and Ōhoka providing more than 5000 residential units combined, and a 55 hectare industrial development close to Christchurch airport.

Philip Carter, a director of the Carter Group, donated $59,500 to National in 2023.

Katikati Quarry

The Katikati Quarry hopes to expand the existing quarry by 50 hectares within both their own property boundaries, as well as into adjacent Crown land. This is the Department of Conservation's Kaimai forest park. Stu Husband of Grassroots Consulting spoke to RNZ on behalf of the company, which is owned by Matamata-based J Swap. He said quarrying is already taking place on 20 hectares of conservation land, the expansion will increase this area to 40 hectares.

J Swap donated $11,000 to NZ First in December, after the coalition was formed. It also gave $5000 to NZ First's Shane Jones in August 2023 and $3000 to National's David MacLeod in September 2023. In total $19,000 was donated in 2023.

"The $11,000 after the election was for five tickets to a business dinner to hear MPs and Ministers speak on what has been achieved in the first 100 days of the new parliament," said Husband.

The company also sought to extend its quarry in Matamata into land protected by a QEII Covenant through the fast track process. The Matamata project is not included in the list of projects which are to be included in the next version of the bill.

Gibbston Village

A 900 residential unit project proposed for Gibbston Valley which includes a commercial area and provision for a school was put forward by the Town Planning Group. The planning company submitted this on behalf of Gibbston Valley Station. Gibbston Valley Wines, which shares three of the same directors of Gibbston Valley Station, donated $13,802 to the National Party in 2023. It also gifted Prime Minister Christpher Luxon a case of wine.

Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure

Three projects related to Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure got the nod to enter the fast track process. These relate to the expansion of two quarries and a new waste site at a third quarry in Belmont.

Fletcher Building, which is the holding company for Fletcher Concrete & Infrastructure, donated $7200 to the National Party in 2023. A spokesperson from Fletcher Building said the donation was the cost of tickets to a dinner event hosted by the National Party.

"These quarries are essential for supporting New Zealand's transport, infrastructure, and land development projects. All three applications met the criteria provided by the Government and were reviewed and recommended by an independent panel."

Green Steel

Vipan Garg's plan to build a steel recycling plant in the Waikato region also made it to the fast track list. Garg told the Waikato Times recycling scrap metal into steel produced less Co2 than producing it with iron sand. He said he could only give limited details about the location of the project due to commercial sensitivity, but said it would only occupy a small part of the 53 hectares of land mentioned in the list of projects.

Garg donated $5135 to National in 2023.

Is donating a conflict of interest?

University of Otago legal expert Professor Andrew Geddis said the Cabinet Manual doesn't cover whether receiving a donation is a conflict of interest.

In a political system where a lot of the money used for campaigning comes from private sources, it would be difficult to bar parties from being involved in decisions which impact donors.

"The unions give lots of money to the Labour Party. If that was then to mean that the Labour Party couldn't pass workplace relations legislation that impacts on unions, it would take a huge policy issue just out of play."

If this was the rule, donors wouldn't donate, he said.

"So for pragmatic, practical reasons, the rule that's been adopted is that just because a donor gives money to a political party or even to an individual candidate, that in and of itself is not a conflict."

For the Fast-track approvals Bill, he says there's a layer between donations and decisions. The projects included in the Schedule 2 list still need to go before Parliament.

"That may well be thought to be less of a direct benefit, also open and transparent."

Forest & Bird's Richard Capie said the fast track has been the opposite of transparent.

"It's not just bad for the environment, it's bad for democracy and it's bad for fairness. I think there'll be people out there in New Zealand who might support some of these projects, but I don't think they'd support how this has been done."

The organisation has been fighting for months to have the list of projects released. These were originally withheld with Minister for Infrastructure and RMA Reform Chris Bishop telling TVNZ the list would "overwhelm" the select committee.

Capie also took issue with details about the management of conflicts of interest being withheld.

"He's [Bishop] also saying he won't proactively release that information. So who was potentially conflicted? How was that managed?"

The Fast-track approvals bill was part of the coalition agreement between NZ First and National. Capie would like the draft version of this bill used in coalition agreements released in full, without suggested projects blacked out.

"We don't know who was on that list. Actually, how many of those names are the same names that were released yesterday?"

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