NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Politics

<i>Fran O'Sullivan:</i> Labour's boomerang bomb

Fran O'Sullivan
By Fran O'Sullivan
Head of Business·NZ Herald·
31 Oct, 2008 03:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Fran O'Sullivan
Opinion by Fran O'Sullivan
Head of Business, NZME
Learn more

KEY POINTS:

Labour Party president Mike Williams must have been tired and emotional or greatly deluded to believe he was finally on the track of a "neutron bomb" which would blast National leader John Key's election campaign into smithereens.

The upshot of Williams' lunatic attempt to try and link Key with the notorious 1988 H-fee scam - when no such evidence has been uncovered - is that Labour is now (rightfully) scrambling to fight off accusations that it is more interested in launching smears against its opponents than fighting a fair election at a time of extreme international financial turbulence.

The Prime Minister's pathetic attempt to distance herself from Williams' ham-fisted behaviour lasted a mere 24 hours before she was forced to confirm the Labour Party paid for what she initially described as his "private mission".

What Williams had clearly hoped was that his trip to Melbourne to inspect court documents would uncover evidence linking Key with the so-called H-Fee - two payments totalling A$66.5 million ($75 million) to Allan Hawkin's Equiticorp, funnelled via sham foreign exchange transactions in 1988.

The deal was orchestrated by former Elders (Australia) executive Ken Jarrett with the help of former Elders (NZ) Merchant Finance executive Paul Richards - who used to report to Key - on the transactional side but was given immunity from prosecution.

It is unfathomable that Williams and Labour's taxpayer-funded "researchers" thought they would drive home a connection putting Key at the centre of this white-collar crime by uncovering evidence that had eluded the Australian National Crimes Authority's forensic investigators.

If evidence existed linking Key to the transaction he would either have faced charges, or been subpoenaed to give evidence in the subsequent court cases against Jarrett and Hawkins. He wasn't.

Key told investigators that he had been lunching with Richards on his last formal day at Elders, when Richards, his successor, had been called away to meet Jarrett.

It is risible that Key is now subject to snide innuendo that continues to publicly link him to the "H fee" transactions - simply because he initially recalled to journalists last year (wrongly as it now appears) that he had left Elders in 1987 (which was before both H-fee transactions) and that he, not Richards, paid for the fateful lunch.

It turned out that Richards (read Elders) paid on this instant. But there would have been plenty of times Key would have signed when he was the dealing room boss.

It's not surprising to me that his memory is unreliable in this case.

Key probably saved himself a sore head when his lunch partner disappeared. In 1980s Wellington, budding "masters of the universe" frequently held "blowouts" at posh restaurants: Le Normandie - where lunch started with lashings of whitebait and gallons of Krug champagne and frequently migrated into dinner - Orsini's and, of course, Plimmer House where Key and Richards lunched on August 31, 1988.

These young guys (Key would have been 27 at the time) were all rather charming, but at times also obnoxious blowhards, who revelled in their deal-making abilities during the intoxicating period when Kiwi business people went wild in the newly deregulated financial market.

This is hardly "Gotcha" territory. Just look at the young thrusters in China and Russia who are similarly milking their countries' new found financial freedoms.

What the episode does expose (again) is Key's faulty memory for critical dates in his life story. He (or wife Bronagh) should sit-down some night and pull together a resume - call it a CV if you like - that says exactly where he worked and when, then memorise it.

His failure to always be totally across the detail and his flip-flops on policies are what get him into trouble and leave him ready prey for the always on message Clark.

Will all this matter if National wins the most votes in next week's election and Key ultimately becomes Prime Minister? Probably not.

Just as in 1984, 1990 and 1999, there will be a surge of energy as Kiwis get excited over the new Government's plans. Key will have vast resources at his command and plenty of minders to keep him on track.

No one will care about the ins and outs of a 20-year-old scam when more pressing problems like this country's financial future are at stake.

Clark will be securing her next job offshore. Williams will be preparing to resign from his five plum state directorships. Winston Peters will be a (thankfully) distant memory.

Unless of course Clark - the ultimate pragmatist - tells Labour supporters in Tauranga to give their electorate vote to Peters and scraps together enough post-election allies to get her over the line. Your choice.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Politics

Premium
Politics

'Ridiculous': Why Firearms Minister compared guns to ovens and toasters

13 May 09:00 PM
live
Politics

Watch: 'The current system fails' - Govt investing $140m to boost dire school attendance rates

13 May 08:21 PM
Politics

David Seymour's $140 million Getting kids in School programme

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Politics

Premium
'Ridiculous': Why Firearms Minister compared guns to ovens and toasters

'Ridiculous': Why Firearms Minister compared guns to ovens and toasters

13 May 09:00 PM

McKee raises concern about the cost-benefit justification for maintaining a gun registry.

Watch: 'The current system fails' - Govt investing $140m to boost dire school attendance rates
live

Watch: 'The current system fails' - Govt investing $140m to boost dire school attendance rates

13 May 08:21 PM
David Seymour's $140 million Getting kids in School programme

David Seymour's $140 million Getting kids in School programme

'Dangerous and direct threat': Urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing into Seymour's new bill

'Dangerous and direct threat': Urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing into Seymour's new bill

13 May 05:00 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP