KEY POINTS:
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters thinks someone influenced a charity to return a donation it asked for and thanked him for.
NZ First gave the Cystic Fibrosis Association $10,000, part of the $158,000 it owed Parliamentary Services for wrongful election campaign spending in 2005.
It insists the spending was given prior clearance and won't pay it back.
Mr Peters said on Sunday it had all been given to "worthy causes" he did not identify.
The association's chief executive, Kate Russell, announced last night it had returned the donation because it wasn't sure the party had the right to give the money to charities.
That provoked NZ First to release a letter Ms Russell wrote to Mr Peters in December asking for a donation and saying he could be sure it wouldn't be returned.
NZ First initially tried to give all of it to Starship Hospital but the board turned it down citing the same reason as Ms Russell.
Mr Peters told reporters Ms Russell didn't just ask for a donation, she wrote to him and thanked him for it.
"What a wonderful surprise to receive such a wonderful donation ... to know we have friends like you boosts our morale every day," Mr Peters quoted her as saying in the letter.
"The real issue is who got to them," he said.
"It's a very sad day when people put petty politics ahead of human interest."
He refused to say who he thought had "got to" the association and told reporters to find out for themselves.
ACT leader Rodney Hide said NZ First should have paid the money back to Parliamentary Services, like the other parties Auditor-General Kevin Brady decided had wrongly spent taxpayer funds.
"It's not a good look to morally owe this money to taxpayers and then say 'I've cleared the debt' by giving it to charity," he said.
"The idea that a political leader is sending that signal throughout New Zealand is disgusting."
Ms Russell said in an interview with Radio Live that "all along" the charity's position had been that it would only accept a donation if it was sure it was legally, morally and ethically acceptable to do so.
"As far as we're concerned, we know the New Zealand public has a level of disquiet about it and opinion is very mixed and so we've decided it's a good idea to return the money," she said.
Ms Russell did not mention any conditions in her letter to Mr Peters.
- NZPA
