CEOs sent a clear message in the Mood of the Boardroom survey — 75 per cent of them agreeing the Government should legislate to tighten foreign donation laws in order to remove the
Chorus CEO Kate McKenzie says all donors expect to obtain some influence as a result of donating, though she is "not sure 'foreign' donors are any better or worse — transparency and awareness of who is donating and why are the important things to focus on".
Chair of NZ Local Government Funding Agency Craig Stobo agrees, suggesting that all political donations should be transparent, which would allow "the fourth estate to then do its forensic job".
Mainfreight's Don Braid suggests we should have zero tolerance: "no international political donations should be allowed."
Whereas a dairy company chief executive suggests he is "not so sure about the relevance of donations, because foreign actors are present with or without".
However, Westpac chief executive David McLean says the laws are already very tight.
Deloitte chief executie Thomas Pippos says his sense is "this is a non-issue", suggesting a greater issue exists with the use of social media to peddle fake news.