Green Party struggling to pay election campaign bills

  • 25/10/2017
Green Party leader James Shaw.
Green Party leader James Shaw. Photo credit: Getty

The Green Party may have secured a number of ministerial roles in the new Parliament with Labour and NZ First, but they're struggling to pay their campaign bills.

It was a heated election campaign, which saw polling numbers rise and plummet over the course of the months, and co-leader Metiria Turei resign in the wake of revealing she had previously defrauded Work and Income NZ.

And while it had a good result in the end, securing eight seats, it came at a high cost.

Party leader James Shaw confirmed the financial struggles in an email sent to all Green Party members, saying despite fundraising, they're still trying to pay off campaign bills and ongoing administration cots.

"We have already trimmed any excess expenses and with fewer MPs to pay tithes into the Party coffers, we are experiencing a significant shortfall," he said.

"If each person receiving this email donates $100 we would be in the clear.

"After all, we must continue to campaign outside of Government to ensure the big issues like climate change, cleaning up our rivers and ending poverty are in the nation's top priorities and to continue to create a mandate for action on critical issues."

The campaign saw the Greens' polling numbers rise and fall dramatically over the months, at one point dropping below the 5 percent threshold to enter Parliament.

Despite its recovery it still only ended up with eight seats in this Parliament, compared to winning 14 in 2014.

Newshub.