Labour leader David Cunliffe says the National Party's 'Cabinet Club' is against the rules and "beyond the pale".
Last night 3 News exposed the fundraising scheme , in which people pay an annual subscription in exchange for lunches and other get-togethers with MPs and Cabinet ministers.
When confronted, a number of ministers denied the existence of Cabinet Club, including Social Development Minister Paula Bennett – despite the fact she spoke about it in Parliament as recently as last month, and according to Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges' website, Ms Bennett was a 'special guest' at a Cabinet Club dinner in 2011.
There is also a document on a website belonging to MP Mike Sabin referencing the scheme.
Once admitting Cabinet Club does indeed exist, National said ministers don't attend functions in a ministerial capacity and any donations collected are declared, so there are no rules broken.
Mr Cunliffe disagrees, calling it "another step in National's dance with big money".
"The idea that you would systematically sell access to ministers, where if someone pays a subscription and they're guaranteed a certain minimum number of access points each year, I think just goes beyond the pale," he said on Firstline this morning.
"It is a contravention of the Cabinet Manual if the minister is acting in a ministerial capacity, but by definition if it is a 'Cabinet Club', it must involve ministers."
The Green Party has weighed in on Cabinet Club too, calling it "racketeering" and "democracy for sale".
"Access to ministers shouldn't depend on how much money you donate to the governing party," says co-leader Russel Norman.
The controversy comes hot on the heels of the Judith Collins-Oravida saga and Maurice Williamson's resignation as a minister, after he admitted interfering in a police investigation into a wealthy National Party donor.
Mr Cunliffe says there are further revelations to come about Ms Collins, but refused to back up fellow Labour MP Trevor Mallard's claim in the House yesterday that Ms Collins' family had profited to the tune of $500,000 from her taxpayer-funded trip to China, where she met with bosses from the company.
"Under the rules of privilege, what's said in the House stays in the House," says Mr Cunliffe.
"The Prime Minister [is] presiding over a Government that is looking more and more like it cares more about money than it cares about people. People-first is what Governments should be about, and that is not what the National Party is all about, and all New Zealanders can see it; they don't like it, and they will want to change it."
Mr Cunliffe has some work to do if the Government is to be changed – at the last 3 News-Reid Research poll, National and its partners were looking at a combined 65 seats, with Labour, the Greens and Mana winning only 56.
3 News
source: newshub archive
