KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister Helen Clark says she has received private assurances from Foreign Minister Winston Peters that expatriate businessman Owen Glenn had not donated to the New Zealand First Party.
She also said the appointment of Mr Glenn as honorary consul general in Monaco was at best "most unlikely" despite the emergence of a letter that suggests he is still hopeful of getting it.
She said yesterday during a visit to Waikato that she had spoken to Mr Peters before he left for Fiji on Monday to attend the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers meeting.
"He said to me what he had said publicly."
He has said publicly and repeatedly that Mr Glenn did not donate to NZ First.
An email published in the Weekend Herald from Mr Glenn to his public relations adviser indicates otherwise: "Steve - are you saying I should deny giving a donation to NZ First?? When I did??"
Mr Peters has said variously that the email was fabricated and that the two question marks meant Mr Glenn was asking a question.
On the matter of establishing a post of honorary consul in Monaco, where Mr Glenn lives, the Prime Minister said there had been "no progress on that whatsoever".
"And further, I think it would be most unlikely," she said.
"I further checked today whether there has been any official discussion at all on the Monaco issue since this matter was last in the news and I'm sure there has been none."
Her comments follow the disclosure of a letter sent to Mr Peters from Mr Glenn in May just after Mr Peters returned from an extensive European trip.
The letter indicates that Mr Glenn was trying to improve his chances of Mr Peters approving an appointment.
Mr Glenn has several homes, but said he would be living in Monaco until further notice. He alluded to a major donation he had made to a North Shore sporting trust and said he wanted to hear more about other "projects" Mr Peters had brought to his attention.
Helen Clark did not want to be drawn further on the matter of donations: "I'm not commenting on anything to do with funding New Zealand First may or may not have received."
But today National's leader John Key said the onus was now on Helen Clark to seek clarification from Mr Glenn to clear up the apparent contradiction in their statements.
"Now the way to resolve this matter is Helen Clark should get on the phone and speak to Owen Glenn," he said on TVNZ's Breakfast programme.
"She obviously knows Owen Glenn very well. He is a sugar daddy for the Labour Party - a very large donor. So she could simply get on the phone to Owen Glenn."
Mr Glenn has freely acknowledged that he has given $500,000 and a $100,000 interest-free loan to Labour, and money to other parties. But he won't say which.
Whenever he is asked if he has given to New Zealand First, he has referred queries to the party.
When speculation arose in February about a donation, former party president Dail Jones said it received a large mystery donation in December.
Asked by a Herald reporter on Monday if the party could have received an anonymous donation from Mr Glenn through a trust, Mr Peters said no.
- With NZPA
