Peters fury over handling of millionaire donation story

12:25PM Wednesday February 20, 2008

Was NZ First's mystery donation from Glenn too?

2.42pm:

New Zealand First received a large mystery donation in December last year but Party president Dail Jones does not know whether wealthy expat businessman Owen Glenn gave it.

Jones told the Herald this morning the sum was between $10,000 and $100,000." but added: "It is probably closer to $100,000."

"It is a substantial amount for us."

It raises more questions at present than it answers and it is time Glenn gave answers. In January Glenn told Herald reporter Martha McKenzie-Minifie that he had given money to other New Zealand political parties but would not name them.

This is in contrast to him being upfront about the $500,000 he gave to Labour before the 2005 election and upfront about the $100,000 interest-free loan he gave it afterwards.

NZ First leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters is on a trip to South Africa and Zambia. His office has sent him a message asking whether he knows who the donor is.

It is hard to get through to Glenn to ask him directly - and while we are at it, to ask him whether he was the wealthy Labour backer living overseas who, according to Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia, offered the Maori Party $250,000 at the last election to go with Labour.

His personal assistant has been engaged every time I have rung.

It is important to get fuller disclosure on this, not least to ensure that mud does not stick where it is not warranted.

If Glenn is not the NZ First donor it should be simple enough to say so. If he is, then we should know whether Peters knows.

Clark was upfront in Parliament yesterday saying she knew about the loan from Glenn when she gave him a gong in the New Years honours list but it played no part.

She also knows that Peters is considering whether Glenn will be made New Zealand's Honorary Consul to Monaco.

The pair met for breakfast at the Rugby World Cup in Paris in October and talked about the post.

Glenn told the Herald last week he was just waiting for Winston "to get off his arse" and approve it.

Whoever gave the anonymous donation to New Zealand First, it was used towards the $158,000 the party donated to the Starship Foundation on December 12, the amount the Auditor General found it had unlawfully spent at the 2005 election.

But the Starship Foundation - the fundraising arm of the state children's hospital - at first accept the money but returned it under the instructions of chairman Bryan Mogridge.

Asked what the anonymous donation was spent on, Jones said: "It is still in the bank."

"We paid the money to Starship. They banked it and then they sent us a cheque back saying they don't want it."

Jones said he had discovered the donation in the party's bank account in December and asked the bank where it had come from but it said it could not tell him.

He intended to declare it in the party's return to the Electoral Commission due by April 30.

UPDATE 4.35pm: Owen Glenn this afternoon has strongly hinted that he gave New Zealand First the large anonymous donation that appeared in its bank account in December.

But he categorically denies having offered the Maori Party $250,000 at the last election for going with Labour.

Glenn's response to my questions about whether he was the sources have come via Steve Fisher at Baldwin Boyle PR firm in Auckland who spoke with Glenn this afternoon.

"He had absolutely nothing to do with any monetary offer to the Maori Party, nothing to do with it at all," Fisher said. "As far as New Zealand First is concerned, he said to go and talk to them."

When I said I had talked to president Dail Jones and that he didn't know, he said Glenn was aware of that but alluded to the fact that the party was trying to track down leader Winston Peters in Africa.

It was simple enough for Glenn to deny he was behind the Maori Party offer, and that is totally accepted.

It would have been simple enough to deny he had donated to New Zealand First.

The fact that he didn't suggests that he did. He just thinks it is up to Peters to say.

We are all ears.

UPDATE 5.42pm:

Winston Peters' press secretary has been in touch to say that Peters says the inference in my blog is "completely false."

"He said he will deal with the matter in full when he returns, but to be clear, there is no substance to the claims being made."

The two questions put to Peters were did he know who the party's December donor was, and if so, was it Owen Glenn?

UPDATE 6.30pm:

TVNZ has just reported that Winston Peters is furious with his party president and new MP Dail Jones over the comments he made this morning about finding a large anonymous donation in December and that he was "completely wrong."

Peters also denied to TVNZ that the party had ever received a donation from Owen Glenn, which is accepted.

Quite why Glenn couldn't have said that himself is a mystery when he was so unequivocal about the Maori Party.

If Peters knows that Glenn has never donated to his party, Peters may know who gave the donation in December. It may just be anonymous to the president.

I've just got off the phone from Dail Jones who says he stands by his statements. "I don't change my statement to you in any way."

"We had a board meeting on the 17th of December before which I paid the cheque to Starship because the money came in in the previous week. I remember it distinctly because I was looking for the money to pay the cheque."

He said he hasn't spoken to Peters yet and he doesn't know what TVNZ's Guyon Espiner told Peters that provoked the reported response.

Peters may well be in the air now on his way to Zambia where communications are more difficult than in South Africa. It is unfortunate that this may not be cleared up in a hurry. He is due back on Saturday.

* This blog was updated throughout the day. The posts have been put in chronological order

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