Political fallout from Rod Drury allegations as some parties cut ties, others keep donations
Once one of New Zealand’s wealthiest political donors, some parties are now distancing themselves from Sir Rod Drury, as allegations of sexual misconduct emerge from multiple women against the embattled tech billionaire.
One party has returned $20,000, another is keeping a recent contribution but will not take his future donations, while others are waiting for the findings of an independent review into the complaints, or refusing to comment on his previous backing.
Since April 14, four women have accused Drury of unwanted sexualised behaviour – ex-employee Ally Naylor, a former employee referred to as Amy, Drury’s former private chef Megan Ruddle and entrepreneur Jenene Crossan. Drury denies the allegations.
The Xero founder, who has since relinquished his New Zealander of the Year title, has long supported parties across the political spectrum.
He made a $100,000 donation to Act in 2022, and gave $13,500 to National and $5000 to Green candidate Julie Anne Genter last election. Drury also donated $10,000 to Queenstown Mayor Glyn Lewers in last year’s local elections.
Most recently, the National Party banked $100,000 from Drury ahead of this year’s General Election, returns filed earlier this month reveal.
That donation is among the largest National recorded last year and was received in September in the name of Drury and Rebecca Alo.
In response to questions from the Herald, National Party president Sylvia Wood said the party’s board of directors “will consider this matter further after the investigation is complete”.
“As an active investigation is underway it would be improper to comment,” Wood said.
The Opportunity Party confirmed it banked a $20,000 donation from Drury in February, before news broke of the allegations against him.
A spokesman for the party said they returned the donation to Drury on May 6.
“In light of the subsequent media reports regarding Mr Drury, we decided it was best to return the donation in full,” party general manager Iain Lees-Galloway said.
The Green Party had not received any major donations from Drury this term, a spokesman said, but one of its candidates had received a donation from him below the $1500 threshold for declaration.
The party refused to say which candidate received the donation, but Julie Anne Genter confirmed she was not the recipient, despite previously receiving a donation from Drury.
This was received “before the news story broke” about Drury, the spokesman said, and would be kept.
“We do not retrospectively return donations,” the spokesman said.
“Major donations to the party must be approved by our Kaunihera [governing body] and not compromise the Green Party’s charter and values.
“The party will not be accepting any further donations from Drury.”
The Act Party would not disclose whether it had received any recent donations from Drury below the reporting threshold, nor would it comment on the previous support from Drury.
“We don’t comment on or disclose details of donations, donations above the threshold are publicly disclosed via the Electoral Commission,” a party spokesman said.
A Labour Party spokesman said Drury “has not made any disclosable donations to the Labour Party in recent years”.
A Te Pāti Māori spokeswoman said it had received no funding from Drury.
New Zealand First did not respond to questions by deadline.
A representative for Drury declined to comment about the positions taken by the parties.
In New Zealand, parties must make annual returns which include identifying the individuals, trusts and companies that gave more than $5000. This threshold has since been increased to $6000, which will be reflected in next year’s returns.
In an election year, donations from a single donor worth $20,000 or more must be declared with the Electoral Commission for public disclosure within 20 working days of being received.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.