Green party donations

At Bryce Edward's Liberation blog I came across an interesting post on the funding of the NZ Green Party.

Among the companies to have given donations to the party include Westpac, Telecom, Ericsson, Clear and Macquarie Bank.

Such a combination of Banks and Telecommunication communications seems and odd bunch of supporters for a left-wing anti-business party - wouldn't such parties prefer to support centre-right parties which advocate less regulation and lower taxes?

However, it does make sense if you look at it from the post modern perspective of corporate image rather than vested interests.

Supporting trendy left-wing parties makes companies look better in the eyes of the SWPL crowd, and helps diffuse militant opposition from the far-left. Why spike trees when you can get a nice desk job working for the Green Party or Greenpeace.

This corporate policy of appeasing your opponents is highlighted by fact the party has actually turned down donations from Sky City (on the grounds they don't support gambling) and an undisclosed mining company.

Interestingly, Edwards concludes that the increased funding of the Green Party hasn't had much impact on the party's electoral success, with the party consistently polling around 4 -6 percent of the vote, but it has helped fund more paid jobs in the Green Party hierarcy.