Disgraced MP Maurice Williamson's Pauanui beach house is a stone's throw from Donghua Liu's - the man he interfered in a police case for.
Valued at $1.1 million and $1.9M respectively, Mr Williamson recommended Mr Liu buy the place next door - but he insists they're not mates.
The Prime Minister is keen to keep his distance too - he opened Mr Liu's property development but yesterday said he couldn't remember where else they'd met.
Nine hours later, however, there was total recall and Mr Key remembers seeing Mr Liu at various functions, including a dinner as part of a National Party fundraiser.
"He has terrible brain fades when the pressure comes on, [it's] surprising for a guy from Wall Street," says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
The incident is another fundraiser starring Mr Key to add to the list.
Mr Liu donated $22,000 to the party after Mr Key cut the ribbon on his development and there was the dinner Mr Key attended at Antoine's which earned the party $100,000. Added to this was the Maori Party dinner where Mr Key's presence raised $75,000 for them, and there was also the "charity" golf games with Oravida owner Stone Shi - one raising up to $56,500, the second unknown.
And now, another big Oravida donation has been revealed - just two months after Justice Minister Judith Collins' dinner with Oravida in China, the National Party received a Christmas present of $30,000.
"The National Party now seems to be a full service organisation - you donate to the National Party, they help you with your citizenship, you get access to ministers and Prime Ministers," says Green Party co-leader Russel Norman.
"Maurice made one mistake - in the case of Judith Collins she made countless mistakes and that's being covered up," says Mr Peters.
So another day, another donation – and now there are more questions about whether it's cash for access to those at the top.
3 News
source: newshub archive
