Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong has defended accepting more than $400,000 in large political donations this year while campaigning to ban them, saying the party has to "play the game with everyone else" to get into Parliament.
The minor party soared to 8% in the latest 1News Verian poll released earlier this week, rivalling the vote share of other small parties such as NZ First and ACT.
But the party's leader was grilled as she appeared on Q+A this morning.
Wong appeared to launch a package of policies she said would "clean up politics", including a proposed ban on donations above $30,000, an end to donations from companies, a lobbyist register and a stand-down period for ex-ministers.
But Opportunity has accepted six donations over $30,000 this year, totalling more than $400,000, and has taken in more in large donations than the Labour Party, Q+A reports.
Asked why the party was accepting so many of the donations it wanted outlawed, Wong said the $30,000 threshold came from the Independent Electoral Review.
Qiulae Wong believes her party can find "common ground" with Winston Peters and New Zealand First if it were part of future coalition negotiations. (Source: 1News)
She cast the contradiction as a means to an end.
"The challenge for us, I think, is we can either tie two hands behind our back and play this game and try to get into Parliament and hold ourselves to a higher moral ground, and limit our chances of getting in," she said.
"Or we can play the game with everyone else and then get in there and change the rules as quickly as possible, and actually put the ladder down for other politicians and parties that come after us to make it fair."
Pressed on why Opportunity should benefit from a campaign fuelled by big donations and then pull up the ladder behind it, Wong pointed to the sums raised by larger parties.
"At the moment, we have to compete with National, who have raised $11 million, compared to our $400,000, from large donations," she said.
Newcomer rises to 8% to bring it neck-and-neck with New Zealand First. (Source: 1News)
"I don't see any of the other political parties proposing to change the system, which we all, I think, agree is unfair. I think most voters would agree that that's unfair.
"Nobody else is proposing to get into Parliament and make those changes. If we can't raise that money and don't get into Parliament, we'll have even less of a chance of making that difference for future voters."
Wong was grilled on Q+A by interviewer Jack Tame, who pressed the Opportunity leader on whether her party was set up transparently, and if its tax policy stacked up.
Tax policy and public service cuts under scrutiny
Wong was challenged on Opportunity's flagship citizen's income of almost $20,000 a year for every eligible adult, which would be paid to New Zealanders, but intended to be balanced in the books with a much higher income tax rate.
To qualify, recipients must have lived in New Zealand for five of the previous 10 years.
National Party ruled out working with the new party on the block, offering it a rare chance for some attention. (Source: 1News)
Q+A put it to her that a couple earning $125,000 each who moved back after more than five years away would be worse off by $17,000 a year renting, or $27,000 if they bought a home, paying the higher tax rate while getting no citizen's income.
Wong, who spent nine years in the UK, confirmed she herself would not have qualified on returning home.
She said returning New Zealanders needed to weigh up the wider picture.
"I think if I were to put myself in those shoes and I was looking at coming back to New Zealand, and I knew that there were big economic changes that were making this a more prosperous future for me and my kids, I would be willing to pay that tax," she said.
"Because I know that I would be better off in the long-run, and that my kids would be better off in the long-run."
She said other policies, including student loan interest forgiveness for returning Kiwis and more affordable housing, were designed to make coming home more attractive.
National Party leader says: “When you want to spend more tax... borrow more, we ain't doing business with you”. (Source: 1News)
Opportunity's costings also rely on savings from cutting public service jobs.
Wong said the party had estimated 2000 roles would go across the public service, primarily at the Social Development Ministry but with reductions also at Inland Revenue, the Justice Ministry, Oranga Tamariki and MBIE.
She drew a distinction between Opportunity's approach and National's public service reductions. "I think that is very different from the National Party's decision to try and cut 9000 jobs arbitrarily, with no plan, with no intended outcomes," she said.
"Whereas this is a planned change that would deliver more efficiency and better outcomes for New Zealanders, most importantly."
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
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