KEY POINTS:
Helen Clark said today that she did not think it was possible Winston Peters' would resign as Foreign Minister, and even if he did the Government would survive.
The Prime Minister is expected to meet Mr Peters tomorrow, after his return from official engagements in Samoa, to hear his explanation for the controversy surrounding donations to New Zealand First.
Miss Clark was asked on Newstalk ZB this morning whether the Government would fall if Mr Peters resigned over the issue.
She said she did not think it was remotely likely that he would resign and even if he did the Government would not be affected.
"The Government has a programme to complete in this particular term and I think we're at a point where really nobody who currently is likely to support or be working with the Government has an interest in seeing that fall short," she said.
"There are some things we need to do before our country goes to the polls."
She said Mr Peters will have to deal with issues around donations "to the best of his ability", though she does not think her Foreign Minister will be disclosing all the details of the mysterious trust which accepted a $25,000 cheque from Sir Robert Jones.
She said today there had never been transparency around trusts which were used so that donors could contribute money to fund political parties or legal expenses.
"The old electoral law enabled a lot of things to go under the carpet and I suspect the issues we are dealing with at the moment are among them," she said on TV One's Breakfast programme.
Helen Clark acknowledged that Mr Peters had always called for transparency from other parties. "I guess that's the issue," she said.
"Obviously his greatest political opponents will want to play up the issue of `is there illegality' and of course he has assured me there isn't," she said.
"But then there's the court of public opinion, and the court of public opinion may have views on whether something is moral or not."
Sir Robert says Mr Peters solicited money from him - which Mr Peters denies - and that a cheque for $25,000 was made out to the Spencer Trust.
NZ First did not declare the donation, and Mr Peters has refused to say what the trust is or what the money was used for.
At a chaotic press conference in Auckland on Friday he said he had nothing to do with the trust, which is managed by his brother Wayne Peters.
Wayne Peters has refused to discuss it.
Sir Robert has said he will write formally to Wayne Peters this week asking what the money was used for.
- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF
