Ex-National Party president Peter Goodfellow makes $30,000 party donation

Former National Party president Peter Goodfellow addresses a National Party Conference in Christchurch. Photo / George Heard

Former National Party president Peter Goodfellow donated $30,340 to his party last year, half of which was while he was still president.

The rest was at the end of the year, meaning the figure was only published by the Electoral Commission last month because of the shutdown over the holiday period.

It is the first time Goodfellow has made donations to National that have reached the $30,000 threshold at which they must be declared within 10 working days, under the rules that have existed for the past decade.

His previous donations were smaller; National declared $20,000 from him in 2020, below the threshold for declaration within 10 working days.

Goodfellow was National president from 2009 until last August when he retired and was replaced by Sylvia Wood. He is a member of the Goodfellow family, who made their fortune in dairy farming.

He was known in the party for his fundraising abilities.

National declared $2.3m in donations over $30,000 in 2022.

Labour, by contrast, declared just $150,000.

Most of National’s donations were thanks to a fundraising blitz by former deputy leader Paula Bennett who tapped richlisters, including New Zealand’s wealthiest man, for as much as $250,000 each last year. It is not clear how much of this funding was spent last year and how much has been put aside for campaigning this year.

Goodfellow’s donations included $15,000 on December 30, 2021; $10,000 on April 4, 2022; $340 on May 11, 2022 and $5000 on December 21, 2022. Donations have to be declared within 10 working days if they top $30,000 in a 12-month period.

Labour has already sounded the alarm about National’s fundraising blitz, accusing the party of a “narrow focus on the wealthiest New Zealanders, both in its policies and its donors”.

Labour’s general-secretary Rob Salmond said while National received a “large number of donations from the wealthiest New Zealanders”, Labour was “proud to be supported by many thousands of donors - from all walks of life giving whatever they can afford”.

Speaking about earlier donations, National Party president Sylvia Wood said she was “thrilled” to have donors’ backing.

“These donors understand how crucial it is for National to execute an effective party vote campaign and their financial support will drive our ability to do this. We’re so thankful to all of our donors, members and supporters for the support they give the National Party,” she said.

Goodfellow was approached for comment.