KEY POINTS:
The Green Party is demanding an independent inquiry after the next election to look at state funding for political parties.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen has admitted the Government is unlikely to have the numbers to get proposals for state funding through Parliament, although he says there is support for other changes to electoral funding laws.
United Future leader Peter Dunne said the idea had been dropped, after smaller parties were consulted over their support for such a move.
Only the Greens backed the idea of state funding of political parties.
Co-leader Russel Norman said today that while the Greens accepted there was not sufficient consensus for partial public funding of political parties, the case today was stronger than when the Royal Commission recommended it 21 years ago.
"For a cost of $3 million per year, we can help make sure that $52 billion per year in taxpayer funds is spent in the interests of us all rather than in the interests of a handful of wealthy backers that funded party campaigns," he said.
An independent inquiry after the next election could look at partial public funding of parties as well as campaign financing in general and the enforcement of the rules, he said.
This could be a commission of inquiry or a citizens' assembly as used in Canada, and should start work early in 2009, he said.
The Greens also said there should be a cap of $1000 on anonymous political donations.
The party also wants a $50,000 cap on campaign spending by non-political parties and says such groups wanting to spend more than $1000 on the campaign must publicly declare themselves.
This would contain the likes of the group of seven Exclusive Brethren who waged a $1.2 million anti-government, anti-Green campaign at the last election.
Mr Norman also said the political party appointees on the Electoral Commission -- currently Labour and National -- should be removed when it allocated broadcast funding and time.
They should also be removed from the Representation Commission that set electoral boundaries.
- NZPA
