![\"Opportunity](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/opportunity-leader-qiulae-wong-says-the-warning-lights-are-f-VKPMZ3D2YVHSPGY3F5OZXGQ3DI.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Opportunity Party is vowing to “clean up politics” by regulating lobbying and reforming political donations.<\/p>\n
It would look to cap political donations and establish an independent anti-corruption body to centralise and coordinate action against corruption.<\/p>\n
Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong made the policy announcement in Auckland on Sunday, saying New Zealand had spent decades building one of the cleanest democracies in the world – “but now the warning lights are flashing”.<\/p>\n
“Our transparency ranking is falling, and the Serious Fraud Office has warned of increased corruption risks,” she said.<\/p>\n
The underlying principle of the policy was simple, she said.<\/p>\n
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Opportunity Leader Qiulae Wong says the warning lights are flashing for New Zealand’s democracy. (Source: rnz.co.nz)<\/p>\n
“New Zealanders should be confident that political decisions are made in their interests, not because somebody has the biggest cheque book or the best access to a minister.<\/p>\n
“People vote. Lobby groups don’t. Our democracy should reflect that,” Wong said.<\/p>\n
In order to regulate lobbying, the party would introduce a Political Influence and Lobbying Bill that would create a one-year cooling-off period, “closing the revolving door” between ministers, senior staff and officials, and lobbying roles.<\/p>\n
It would also create a mandatory, public and searchable lobbying register, with quarterly disclosure of who lobbied which office-holders, as well as a statutory code of conduct for lobbyists and foreign lobbying safeguards.<\/p>\n
To reform political donations, the party said it would “sever the link between donations and influence, and make politics a competition of ideas, not fundraising”.<\/p>\n
The party’s proposal would introduce a $30,000 cap per donor per party per electoral cycle, limit donations to registered voters, lower the public disclosure threshold to $1000 and apply advertising spending limits across the full three-year electoral cycle for parties and candidates.<\/p>\n
The party would also establish an anti-corruption body with “investigative, prevention, and education functions, integrating and co-ordinating existing anti-corruption responsibilities”.<\/p>\n
It would cover all public officials, including ministers, MPs, parliamentary staff, the public service, Crown entities, SOEs, local government, and contractors performing public functions.<\/p>\n
Alongside that body, the party would upgrade the day-to-day integrity rules through Official Information Act reform, stronger pecuniary interest rules, better whistleblower protections, and an independent policy costing unit available to all registered parties.<\/p>\n