Blogger calls for candidate to come clean on campaign donations

Popular blogger Whaleoil says Labour candidate Denise Mackenzie should come clean on who the shadowy backers of her campaign are.

In the 2005 election, Ms Mackenzie was funded solely by anonymous backers and reports from the Electoral Commission indicate she has yet to declare any donations in 2008.

"Mackenzie is a candidate for a party that rammed through the draconian, anti-democratic Electoral Finance Act under the pretense of increasing the transparency of the electoral process, but it's clear that what's good for the goose is not good for the gander.

"For all of her party's rhetoric about transparency and accountability, Ms Mackenzie has a very hollow record. In 2005 she ran a campaign funded exclusively by anonymous donations, organised in smoke-filled backrooms - now she's campaigning in support of the Electoral Finance Act. It just doesn't stack up.

"She needs to come clean on where she got the money from, and what deals she did. What policies and what patronage did Ms Mackenzie flog off?

"As Mackenzie receives more and more anonymous cash, the situation just gets murkier. She is looking increasingly like a crook and the people of Wairarapa need to hold her to account," says Whaleoil.

ENDS

Ref: Download spreadsheet

www.whaleoil.co.nz

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