John Key has been caught up in a "tricky" donations controversy of his own.
After demanding that David Cunliffe name donors to his trust, it turns out the National Party received up to 21 donations worth up to $105,000 after a dinner with Mr Key.
But their identities have not been revealed and, on The Nation, Mr Key said it will stay that way.
Antoine's is one of Mr Key's favourite restaurants. It is in his Parnell neighbourhood. In 2010, official records show it donated $105,000 to the National Party. But that was actually the total proceeds of a dinner with Mr Key where guests paid $5000 each to be there. There were up to 21 of them.
This follows a week when National relentlessly attacked Mr Cunliffe for using a trust to hide donors to his leadership campaign.
On Monday Mr Key said Mr Cunliffe "actually owes it to the New Zealand public to say who gave him money and who didn't. It's no big deal."
On Tuesday he said Mr Cunliffe is "going to be guilty of being labelled as having a secret agenda". And on Wednesday Mr Key said "it's too tricky".
Mr Cunliffe buckled, naming three of his donors and paying money back to two who want to remain anonymous.
Now with the fundraising restaurant dinner, Mr Key has got a different standard and denies everything.
Antoine's owner Tony Astle would not be interviewed, saying it was "rubbish" that his restaurant was a funnel for donations.
There have been other dinners too. In 2011, there was a $60,000 donation.
Both Mr Cunliffe's trust and the restaurant are within the rules. But a donation is secret however it is funnelled.
This shows that with donations Mr Key and National can be "tricky" too.
3 News
source: newshub archive
