KEY POINTS:
New Zealand First has embarked on a 'Plan B' of sorts and started donating the $158,000 that the Auditor-General found it unlawfully spent at the last election to a group of charities instead of just one.
The money - which has been at the centre of a political storm since late 2006 - is being progressively handed over to unnamed charities in small amounts.
Leader Winston Peters confirmed yesterday that the donations were being made but did not want to talk about the issue when the Herald contacted him.
"When it's all done and some serious good has come of it, we'll let you know," Mr Peters said.
"But we don't intend the beneficiaries are going to be part of the snooping, prying, malcontented interests of certain people in the media."
It is more than 17 months since Auditor-General Kevin Brady found that almost every political party had unlawfully spent money around the 2005 election campaign.
Only Jim Anderton's Progressives emerged unscathed from the investigation and most political parties moved quickly to commit to repay the disputed amount to the Parliamentary Service, despite disagreeing with the Auditor-General's findings.
New Zealand First originally resisted paying the money back and then attempted to settle the matter in December by giving a cheque for the same amount to the Starship Foundation, which raises money for the central Auckland children's hospital.
Photographs were issued of Mr Peters giving an oversized cheque to a happy Starship recipient, but the move quickly backfired on NZ First when the foundation's chairman, Bryan Mogridge, returned from overseas and rejected the gift on the basis that it was not "proper philanthropy".
New Zealand First has since been assessing its next move and has now quietly begun making donations without identifying the recipients.
This avoids - or at least delays - any media questioning of the charities that have received the money.
Asked how long it would be before the donations were completed, Mr Peters said he could tell the Herald, "but I'm not".
Last night, the Herald went back to a trio of charitable organisations that had said early this year that they would be happy to accept New Zealand First's cash - but none had received any of it yet.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand chief executive Geoff Barry said there had been no follow-up or any contact from New Zealand First about a donation. Mr Barry said his organisation would be willing to take any help given.
"That money would be put to a lot of good use, like drowning prevention," he said.
The Cystic Fibrosis Association of New Zealand had also not received any money from NZ First. Chief executive Kate Russell acknowledged the agendas which may be involved in a donation from a political party.
"We didn't think they'd give out any [money] because it was too much of a hot potato," she said.
Auckland SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge also said his group had not received a NZ First donation.
