A new report is raising uncomfortable questions about who gets access to New Zealand’s decision-makers — and whether well-resourced lobbyists can wield more influence over government policy than ordinary communities.
Victoria University of Wellington researchers Professor Lisa Marriott and Max Rashbrooke have released Swimming in a Sea of It: A Report on Vested-Interest Lobbying in Aotearoa New Zealand, based on 36 anonymous interviews with current and former ministers, MPs, ministerial staff and public servants from across the political spectrum.
The researchers stress that lobbying itself is a normal part of democracy. Their concern is vested-interest lobbying, particularly where wealthy or highly resourced organisations may have significantly greater access to politicians and officials than other groups.
Interviewees raised concerns about major differences in the resources available to different interests, people moving between political and lobbying jobs, government agencies relying on lobbyists for information, and lobbying occurring early in policy development — sometimes before the wider public even knows an issue is being considered.
That raises important questions for Māori, iwi, hapū and community organisations. If influence depends heavily on money, professional networks and access to decision-makers, groups without large lobbying budgets can enter the policy process at a significant disadvantage.
The report says New Zealand has essentially no dedicated regulation of lobbying and describes the country as an outlier compared with similar developed OECD nations.
Among its recommendations are a Regulation of Lobbying Act, a public register showing who lobbyists are meeting, and cooling-off periods preventing former political figures from immediately moving into lobbying roles.
It also calls for a stronger public service capable of developing independent expertise and for ordinary citizens to have greater opportunities to influence policy.
The report lands during an election campaign where political parties are asking New Zealanders to trust them with some of the country’s biggest decisions.
But it leaves voters with another question worth asking: when decisions are being made behind the doors of power, who gets through those doors — and who doesn’t?
#Lobbying #NZPolitics #Democracy #GovernmentTransparency #PoliticalInfluence #Accountability #PublicInterest #VictoriaUniversity #LisaMarriott #MaxRashbrooke #TeTiriti #Māori #Iwi #Hapū #Election2026 #NZElection #PublicService #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea
