Your say: NZ First's donation to Starship

Stuff readers discuss NZ First's decision to make a donation to Starship Hospital as a way of paying back money ruled to have been illegally spent on the 2005 election.

RE: NZ First donation dismissed as 'stunt'

Feedback (latest posts at top):

Perhaps the board of Starship Hospital could write a cheque for $158,000 to Parliamentary Services with a covering note saying "We believe this is yours".
Tim Morice

How arrogant is Winston Peters? Does he think NZ First is exempt from the rules every other party has to play by? If New Zealand First want to make a generous donation to Starship Hospital, then that's great, but it doesn't excuse them from the debt to the taxpayer.I'm still waiting for them to pay up.
Barry Larsen

Winston Peters had every right to make a donation to Starship Hospital with his own money. However he has made a donation of money his party owes to the New Zealand taxpayer. If I owed Inland Revenue money, I'm sure they would still consider the debt owing if I chose to donate my payment to a charity.  I consider that New Zealand First still owes the amount outstanding and should be required to pay up immediately.
Annette Inglis

Great idea, could not go to a better place. Positive thinking by Winston Peters.     
G Williamson

Maybe instead of paying my PAYE next year I'll donate it to a charity.  I'm sure the IRD will be fine with that.  I bet NZ first have figured out that they can claim a lot of their "donation" back which they can't do if they repayed it as they were supposed to.
J Thomas

Winston Peters was being smart, and as usual it has to be all about him.  He wanted to be in the limelight. He stated that if he had paid it back it would have attracted gift duty?  Is a donation not a gift?  I genuinely don't know this so wonder why the media haven't asked questions in this regard. What Winston has done on behalf of all NZ First members, is wrong.
Janis Laird

Winston's magnimonious gesture was all showbiz - the problem is it was not his money to donate to anyone. It's taxpayers money and it should be returned to the taxpayer.  Now!
LW

If money is illegally used, the committer of the offence can't decide to whom to pay it back. Winston, you guys owe it to Parliamentary Services, do you? Then tough luck mate: pay it back. A media stunt is not an act of honour. No way will I consider your party at the next election. You can't be trusted to act with integrity in a small matter. How can you be trusted in bigger things? And Starship should have had more sense than to accept the money.
Roscoe

I think NZ First has every right to make a donation to the Starship Hospital if they care to. However, they're not entitled to spend what amount to being taxpayer money that way and be forgiven the debt.  To my way of thinking, NZ First still owes the 158,000.
Craig

Dearest Winnie,
I must congratulate you on your donation to Starship. I would be encouraging all political parties to do the same. Unfortunately this does not count wards paying back the money you owed the taxpayers of NZ. You need to remember who pays your salaries! I can not decide to donate my mortgage repayments to the many worthy charities, so why can you? You are not off the hook or forgiven. Pay it back!
Regards
A Taxpayer.

Very generous of NZ First! They still have to repay the $158,000!
Wallace Roome

Mr Peters rejects that they needed to pay the money back, and says it should have been tested in court.  But he voted for the legislation that retrospectively validated that money, and thereby removed the opportunity to have it tested in court. Mr Peters is supporting the government that spends everyone's tax dollars through the "Wellington bureaucracy".  If he is unconvinced that they would be able to spend his repaid $158,000 wisely, why does he think that he can spend many billions of dollars of taxpayer money wisely? In short, this may be an astute political move, but the reasons that he is giving for doing it are ludicrous.  He should have paid it back to Parliamentary Services as the other parties (with the exception of United Future) have done.
Paul Lambert

While the donation to Starship might seem an honourable cause the reality is that the money did not belong to NZ First to donate and as Starship is govt funded,  should they require more funding this should have be done through official DHB channels.
Graeme Rabone

No, The money belonged to the taxpayers.  Paul Henry summed it up perfectly on TV this morning.
John O'Connell

Yes it is great they are donating to Starship as long as they also repay the full amount to NZ Taxpayers as well.
Judith

Winston is nothing more than a political grandstander, he knows his party is in trouble and needs to get into the news in any way possible. As far as I am concerned he donated money to Staship, now I want our money repaid.
Michael

I've never voted for Winston Peters but good on him and New Zealand First for donating the money to a worthy charty. Who would begrude starship Children's Hospital receiving the money? Whether it taxpayer money or not.
Patrick Diack

Haven't made up my mind either way on this yet but am hoping that NZ First aren't eligible for any tax rebate claim for a charitable donation!
Murray Henderson

If you get paid something you shouldn't have received, shouldn't you pay it back to who it came from?  If I was on an benefit and was overpaid I don't think the MSD would be happy if I paid it to a charity.  They'd still want (and could enforce getting) their money from me. It's nice the Mr Peters has made a donation, he'll feel good and that will offset the bad feeling of paying the other $158,000 to the organisation he got it from.
Richard D

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