Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Key John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:645;Page:14298] 
2.  
JOHN KEY (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Is she the chair of the Cabinet appointments and honours committee which considered the nomination of Owen Glenn to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes. 
John Key 
: Was she or any other Minister present at the Cabinet committee aware that Mr Glenn had loaned the Labour Party $100000 after the 2005 election when they made the decision to recommend him for the honour? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I certainly was but of course the honour was made irrespective of such factors. 
John Key 
: Why did the Prime Minister not correct Labour Party President Mike Williams’ statement made after Mr Glenn received his New Year’s honour that Mr Glenn had made no financial donation to the Labour Party since 2005 when that statement was clearly not true? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Because I was overseas and had no knowledge of it at the time. 
John Key 
: What assurances can she give the New Zealand public that Mr Glenn did not receive his honour as a mark of gratitude for bailing out the New Zealand Labour Party when it had to pay back $880000 it took from taxpayers to pay for its pledge card? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: In fact an honour is given in spite of such factors and I would draw the member’s attention to the editorial in the  
New Zealand Herald  
on the matter on 1 January entitled “Honoured donor to our politics” which went on to state that Mr Glenn “thoroughly deserves one of our highest national honours”. It further stated that he “doubly deserves his honour because he appears to have made no secret of his contribution.” unlike the 3 million bucks’ worth of private contributors who fuelled the National Party’s campaign in 2005. 
John Key 
: Can the Prime Minister confirm that she has approved Mr Glenn’s appointment as New Zealand’s consul in Monaco and that she has as reported this morning told the Minister of Foreign Affairs to “get on with it”; if not what is the position in regard to that appointment? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: No and no. The position as I understand it from Mr Peters this morning is that he is considering whether an appointment should be made at all to such a position. 
John Key 
: How did the Prime Minister become aware of Mr Glenn’s interest in the honorary consul position; was it because the matter was raised directly with her by Mr Glenn or was his request relayed to her by Labour Party President Mike Williams? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: Certainly there has been no conversation by me with Mr Glenn on this matter. I am aware that he has had breakfast with Mr Peters and it has been discussed. Where in the ether it came to me I do not know. 
John Key 
: Why is it that the Prime Minister seems to be struggling to either remember or reconcile any statements in regard to this matter when Mr Glenn’s memory seems to be fully intact? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: That is a bit rich from the man who could not remember opening the email he knew he had received from the Exclusive Brethren. 
John Key 
: How does it look to the New Zealand public when the Government that spent most of last year arguing about the need for transparency in electoral donations has through its party president denied that Mr Glenn had made any financial donations to the Labour Party since the 2005 election a statement we now know to be untrue while at the same time she has given Mr Glenn a New Zealand honour and seemingly promised him a job as honorary consul in Monaco and does she agree with the rest of the New Zealand public that this is looking very murky indeed? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The only thing that looks murky is the National Party putting all its money into secret trusts including by the end of December last year scurrying around the anonymous donors such as the Waitemata Trust run by Mr Bob Brown business partner of Murray McCully and getting as much fuelled away in secret as it could before the 1 January deadline for new rules.