Shane Jones and Yang Liu

Ian Wishart has more damning documents in tonight’s TGIF. It’s proving very good value for $3 a month.

His documents include the clear advice from Internal Affairs that Shane Jones decline the application and that Liu was under active criminal investigation within New Zealand. There is also a revelation of a Cabinet Minister who received a donation from Liu, lobbying his Cabinet Colleague Jones on Liu’s behalf.

I advocated that Labour, when in power, should have established a full independent inquiry into the granting of citizenship. They failed to do so, once again trying to hide beind a Departmental Inquiry knowing such an inquiry can not question Ministers over their actions.

Now it is slightly more difficult for John Key to launch a public inquiry, as it is into a former Minister and could be seen as partisan. But what he should do is approach Phil Goff and get Goff’s agreement to a terms of reference into the granting of citizenship to Liu. Key and Goff would both be praised for ding the right thing, and a break from the past practice of trying to over these things up.