KEY POINTS:
National shifted its attack over political donations from Prime Minister Helen Clark to Labour president Mike Williams yesterday after it learned he had offered to resign in the fallout from his failure to disclose a $100,000 interest-free loan businessman Owen Glenn gave the party.
National also raised questions
in Parliament about an apparent rift in New Zealand First between leader Winston Peters and president and MP Dail Jones over revelations of a large anonymous donation deposited in the party's accounts last December.
Mr Williams' offer to resign this week was rejected by Helen Clark, she revealed yesterday.
She said Mr Williams had made a genuine mistake. "We are all capable of them. We have moved on."
The offer was made amid the ongoing saga of Owen Glenn-related stories which has derailed Labour's serious policy start to the year.
It began last week when Mr Glenn himself disclosed the interest-free loan to Labour in an interview - two months after Mr Williams said Labour had received no further donations from Mr Glenn since the $500,000 he gave at the last election.
But it led to a claim Helen Clark had tried to entice him to enter politics and a claim she wanted Mr Peters, the Foreign Minister, to appoint him honorary consul to Monaco.
The attack, led by deputy National leader Bill English, touched on the propriety of Mr Williams' discussing with Helen Clark Mr Glenn's ambition to be honorary consul in Monaco.
"Why would the appointment of a diplomatic representative of New Zealand be a matter discussed with Labour's chief fund-raiser, Mike Williams, unless it is connected to a donation of half a million dollars from Owen Glenn and a concealed interest-free loan of $100,000 - or is Mr Williams consulted on all diplomatic appointments?"
Mr English also ran through all of the Government appointments for Mr Williams, suggesting he might have used his influential positions "to do favours for other donors in the way that he did favours for Owen Glenn".
He listed Mr Williams' roles as a director of Transit, a director of Ontrack, a director of and Genesis Energy and a member of the board of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and of the Crown research institute GNS Science.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen attacked National's use of trusts, the Waitemata Trust in particular, to channel $2.3 million in anonymous donations.
He also said being an honorary consul was not a "plum job" and they usually spent more than the $5000 and $7500 they received for expenses.
Mr English raised the issue of the public scrap in New Zealand First after Mr Peters publicly criticised Mr Jones for discussing a large anonymous donation made in December.
Mr Peters has said it was not made by Mr Glenn and said he would fully address the matter when he returned from an overseas trip - next Wednesday.
THE PARTIES SAY
"Mr Williams made an honest mistake. Out of that, Mr English is trying to build a great pile of something large, smelly and brown and it will not wash." Michael Cullen
Owen Glenn says he has given cash to other New Zealand political parties but won't name them:
National: Won't discuss donors.
NZ First: Leader Winston Peters says no, president Dail Jones doesn't know
Greens: No
Maori Party: No
United Future: No
Act:No
