KEY POINTS:
NZ First leader Winston Peters blasted in Parliament today anyone involved in cases where Sir Michael Fay or David Richwhite benefitted at taxpayer expense.
During a snap debate on the $20 million record settlement that Mr Richwhite and Sir Michael have agreed to pay to end a Securities Commission case against them Mr Peters described the pair as robbers.
A business owned by the men, Midavia Rail Investments, made $63 million selling Tranz Rail shares in 2002. The commission accused the company of insider trading and said Mr Richwhite, as a Tranz Rail director, tipped off Midavia when to sell because he knew of financial problems not in the public domain.
In a passionate speech Mr Peters hit out at Inland Revenue, the Serious Fraud Office and the National Party.
"They (Sir Michael and Mr Richwhite) had an insatiable greed and in satisfying it they corrupted New Zealand politics and New Zealand politicians and there's no way out of it."
Mr Peters has held a long-running crusade against some in the corporate sector including the two businessmen, over actions in the 1980s and 1990s and has expressed anger over what he says is a lack of action.
Mr Peters invested time, money and political capital in pursuit of some of the cases, most notably the infamous Winebox case where he accused Sir Michael, Mr Richwhite and others of an elaborate tax evasion scam.
Today Mr Peters said the businessmen were "guilty as sin" and had profited from a string of transactions ranging from their involvement in the BNZ, which subsequently had to be bailed out, to the Wine Box inquiry.
"This (settlement) concerns the first time anyone in officialdom has done anything about these men who just robbed this country blind; transaction after transaction after transaction and robbed a whole lot of New Zealanders as well."
He hit out at Serious Fraud Office director David Bradshaw for not acting.
"Too much time went by because he sat on his backside and did nothing and was politically corrupt and failed to act."
He said it was ridiculous that the SFO targeted former Act MP Donna Awatere Huata when the sum of money she was accused of taking was minor in comparison.
"(The case) makes Donna Awatere Huata look like an angel. This is the stinking stench that this Parliament has tolerated and one party in particular."
Mr Peters accused National of being influenced by the businessmen and that it "covered up for their mates".
Political donations had left the pair clear to have "their way with respect to the assets of this country built up by the New Zealand people over a century".
"Why when all this rotten conduct was going on in business they didn't even raise a finger?"
National allowed today's debate to go ahead and deputy leader Bill English pointed out that allegations Mr Peters made had been subject to legal scrutiny in the past.
"All these activities he referred were subject to the scrutiny of the law. Our legal institutions have always been as independent as they need to be, our regulators haven't always ..." he said.
Mr English said all that Parliament could expect was for the law to be properly applied.
"In this case the Securities Commission has done so, and every person in business in New Zealand who is subject to our commercial law should be able to expect a fair hearing and in this case they have had to accept a stiff penalty."
Mr English said regulators as final decision makers had to be backed and he urged colleagues to defend them to constituents.
"The business environment in New Zealand will work well and won't be over regulated if business accepts that regulators are the final decision maker; that if they have provisions for penalising then they'll use them and that on each and every occasion they will be backed by this Parliament."
Mr English said the case showed no one was immune and regulators had to be taken seriously.
Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel congratulated the Securities Commission and said they took the fight with "guts and gumption".
Once other defendants were taken into account the settlement was a record for Australasia at $27.7m.
Ms Dalziel said the legislative framework for the market had been tightened under Labour.
"People who have inside knowledge cannot use that knowledge for their personal gain or for the gain of their friends and associates. This is a very powerful conclusion that one can draw from this case."
- NZPA
