Greenpeace is fighting what it says is an outdated interpretation of charitable purposes.The Charities Commission rejected Greenpeace's application for registered charity status in April, a decision that Greenpeace appealed in the High Court in Wellington
Greenpeace is fighting what it says is an outdated interpretation of charitable purposes.
The Charities Commission rejected Greenpeace’s application for registered charity status in April, a decision that Greenpeace appealed in the High Court in Wellington last Thursday.
The commission had determined that Greenpeace’s promotion of disarmament and peace is political rather than educational – disqualifying it from charitable status.
It based its decision in part on the fact that, while Greenpeace does not directly advocate illegal acts, Greenpeace members have on occasion acted illegally.
Greenpeace lawyer Davey Salmon told the High Court that, if a public benefit test was used, it would become clear that disarmament and peace qualified as a charitable purpose.
He also argued that the commission’s interpretation of ‘charitable’ needs to be updated, as there is now far more overlap between the charitable and political sectors than when charitable purposes were originally defined.
In any case, Mr Salmon said, Greenpeace’s political purposes are ancillary to its main charitable purposes – and therefore meet the criteria set by the Charities Act 2005.
Crown lawyer Paul Gunn, on behalf of the commission, said that Greenpeace’s reliance on lobbying and activism is so extensive as to represent an independent non-charitable purpose.
He said that the commission could not rule out the possibility that Greenpeace members might act illegally when carrying out non-violent direct action – and illegal action can’t be considered a public benefit.
High Court judge Paul Heath reserved his decision.
The case is the latest in what Mr Salmon described as a “mini-flood of cases challenging commission decisions”, all of which have so far been unsuccessful.
The Freemasons, Education NZ Trust, Canterbury Development Corporation, Sensible Sentencing Trust and NZ Centre of Local Government Studies (led by NBR columnist Owen McShane) are among those who have tried and failed to receive charitable status.
Since 2007, the commission has received more than 30,000 applications for charity status, of which it has declined over 1,350. It has removed over 1,000 organisations from the register.
There are currently about 25,600 registered charities in New Zealand.
The benefits of charity status include exemptions from income tax and resident withholding tax and an assurance that received donations will be tax-free.
Greenpeace donations will still qualify for tax breaks, regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s hearing, as it has ‘donee’ organisation status.
