Statement By Rt Hon Winston Peters

new-zealand-first-party

Sat Jul 19 2008 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Statement By Rt Hon Winston Peters

Saturday, 19 July 2008, 11:46 am
Press Release: New Zealand First Party

My lawyer Brian Henry came to see me at 5 o’clock tonight which is the first time we have managed to meet since my trip to Fiji.

Beginning with the Wyatt Creech Electoral Petition he has been involved with fundraising to meet the cost of litigation involving politicians and has had a firm policy that the source of any donations towards legal fees are not disclosed to the client politician. The politician is only made aware of the short fall which the politicians have personally had to meet.

Since 1991 I have been involved in some 14 pieces of litigation which have been paid for in part by donations. About two hundred thousand dollars have been raised by donations for legal fees over this time. I have never been told the source of these donations but have personally met the short fall which has amounted to many hundred thousands of dollars.

Mr Henry decided due to the publicity over the past weekend in respect to Mr Owen Glenn that he should break this policy and inform me that Mr Owen Glenn had donated in 2006 a sum in the order of $100,000 towards the legal costs of the Tauranga electoral petition.

He advised me that he had in 2006 personally spoken to Mr Glenn and arranged payments of any donation Mr Glenn decided to make to assist with those legal expenses.

Until today I have been unaware of the source of all donations for legal expenses and I have cause to be very grateful to Mr Glenn for his very generous contribution.

I told the Prime Minister what I then knew and today I have told her what I have learnt.

He did not make a donation to the NZ First Party but I am now aware he made a donation to a legal action he thought justified.

ENDS

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