What specific measures, if any, are in place to monitor or mitigate perceived preferential access arising from political donations associated with Fast-track applicants? and 1 other question

Answer

Donations to an individual Minister’s election campaign are considered and managed in accordance with the Cabinet Manual guidance on pecuniary interests. Donations to political parties are not generally treated as resulting in a pecuniary conflict of interest for individual Ministers belonging to the party. Further detail, including relating to some Ministers’ interests, is available in the Audit Office’s report about managing conflicts of interest in the Fast-track Approvals process, available at: https://ao.parliament.nz/2025/fast-track-conflicts/summary.htm. As explained in that report, one of the considerations for Ministers is whether they have received a donation to their election campaign from the entities or people involved with a project. The Cabinet Manual also provides clear guidance that Ministers should take care to avoid creating a perception that representatives or lobbyists from any one organisation or group enjoy an unfair advantage with the government. Some donation information is publicly available, as explained at https://elections.nz/guidance-and-rules/donations-and-loans.