KEY POINTS:
New Zealand First secretary Anne Martin was aware of an $80,000 donation to the party which she did not declare, leader Winston Peters said this morning.
The commission in a decision released last night said Mrs Martin had not committed an offence when she filed an incorrect 2007 annual return. However it ordered the party to file amended returns and auditor's reports for 2005 and 2006.
The party got an $80,000 donation from its Spencer Trust in 2007. It was the only year the commission could act on as the period for prosecutions expired on the other years.
ACT leader Rodney Hide, who attacked NZ First over its failure to declare cash and donations, and laid a police complaint relating to the 2007 return, said he still believed NZ First broke the law.
He said the party was legally required to declare the donations and he thought Mrs Martin was kept in the dark about the trust donations.
"Mr Peters never told the secretary or the party about the Spencer Trust," he told Radio New Zealand.
But Mr Peters said Mrs Martin was fully aware of the $80,000 donation.
"Yes she was aware of it, she went with the auditor to the Electoral Commission ... trying to sort out whether it should or should not be declared," he told RNZ.
The commission told her to get legal advice and that advice was that the donations through the trust did not have to be declared.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) this month cleared NZ First after investigating two donations to the party.
It found the money was used for the purpose the donors - Sir Robert Jones and the Vela family - intended.
Parliament's privileges committee found against Mr Peters saying he knew about a $100,000 donation from billionaire Owen Glenn that was not declared.
Mr Peters was stood down from his foreign affairs and other portfolios during inquiries and Prime Minister Helen Clark took over.
The commission did not release full findings, to avoid prejudicing the ongoing police investigation.
Mr Peters said the party had gone through its records with police.
"That's two down and the police to go, and the police have got no where to look either because it was always a matter to do with electoral law," Mr Peters said.
"We always knew this would be the case."
Ironically the commission last night found against Mr Hide's party saying it should have declared donated office space worth $20,000 annually. It ordered ACT to file amended returns.
Mr Hide said NZ First could not be considered cleared without the commission's full findings being released.
He said the facts were that the Glenn donation was not declared, other donations were not declared and Mr Peters initially refused to say the Spencer Trust existed or that his party received the donations.
Mr Peters retaliated: "We've all just heard the sound of a drowning man actually."
Mr Peters said there was nothing untoward about the failure to declare.
"Sometimes things fall between a crack in the floor because it is unclear."
Mr Peters said he had not know about the donations and that was why he denied them. He said it was up to the Spencer Trust trustees.
"I wasn't in a position to answer because I didn't know the facts."
Mr Peters refused to say whether New Zealand First would keep using the Spencer Trust.
The commission also issued a third ruling - that a Tui billboard saying "When Winston Peters says no, he means no - Yeah right" was not an election advertisement.
National leader John Key ruled out working with Mr Peters and NZ First over the controversy.
A spokesman this morning told NZPA the commission decision did not affect that stance.
The decision against ACT made no difference either, he said.
"None of this changes anything."
Mr Peters has not ruled out working with National.
"I've heard politicians make all sorts of naive and stupid premature statements and live to regret it ... I've never ruled anything in and anything out."
- NZPA
