The Press on Glenn donation

The Press’ editorial focuses on Owen Glenn’s loan to Labour:

Now Glenn has acknowledged that he made a substantial interest-free loan to Labour last year, which would have come in handy as the party struggled to pay off its sizeable pledge-card bill. There is nothing illegal or unethical about the loan itself, which has since been paid back, but it is still embarrassing for Labour.

Its difficulty stems from the reported comment of its president, Mike Williams, just after the Honours list was released, that Glenn had not given a donation to the party since the 2005 election. At the very least Labour has benefited financially from the interest it would normally have had to pay on a $100,000 loan, so it is splitting hairs to say that no donation had been made.

In addition to revealing last year’s loan, Glenn also claimed that Clark had told him that he would be a “sitter” for the post of transport minister. The claim is far-fetched, as giving Glenn a safe party list position and a seat at Cabinet would be rightly seen as a pay-off for favours done. If Clark did mention a Cabinet post, it is far more likely she was joking.

The broader problem for Labour is that its secret loan from Glenn is contrary to the spirit of the Government’s own Electoral Finance Act. The legislation is deeply flawed, notably with respect to the harsh regime governing third-party lobby groups during election year, but the act did at least promise to make party financing more transparent.

I’m still waiting for Glenn to clarify why he claimed the Brethren campaign motivated him to donate to Labour, when this occurred 10 months after he donated.