The top priority for political party bosses is to get as much money as possible for social media campaigns and election campaigns. This money makes the difference between winning and losing so they need to give those who make so called donations what they want in order to keep money rolling in each year.

There have been numerous articles and items published and broadcast over many years about the problems facing the environment and society but usually only token gestures have been made towards dealing with them. As the rich grow richer and richer, their control of political parties grows stronger and stronger. This needs to be reversed if democracy is to survive.

Politicians have known for 15 years that housing was becoming increasingly unaffordable but they failed to take any worthwhile action. Home ownership is now not possible for the majority of citizens and rents take up a high proportion of incomes.

Unlike most other countries New Zealand does not have a capital gains tax, inheritance tax, land tax, wealth tax or stamp duty on property transactions   so the situation is going to get even worse.

Large ‘donations’ can help get access to a Minister who has little time for making decisions. Most Ministers lack the knowledge and experience required for critical decision-making so can easily be persuaded that what a lobbyist wants will benefit the country and the short-term interests of their party.

If a politician directly helped those who gave them money or other assistance, those involved could be charged with corruption. To avoid this happening, money is given to political parties and they then arrange for help to be given to the whole industry that the donor belongs to.  This comes at a huge cost to ordinary taxpayers and society.

The excessive borrowing and wasteful spending by the Government in 2020 and 2021 resulted in a huge transfer of wealth to those who were already well off. The $55 billion increase in Government debt and the huge increase in house prices has been disastrous for a third of society and for future generations. If urgent action is not taken to curb the power of vested interests, then the situation will continue to get steadily worse.