What is the Spencer Trust?

JOHN SELKIRK/Dominion Post

QUESTIONS REMAIN: Winston Peters has been criticised for not fully explaining the purpose of the Spencer Trust.

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Five days after NZ First leader Winston Peters promised to return to New Zealand and answer questions about donations to the enigmatic Spencer Trust in an "orderly fashion", its purpose and funding remain secret.

At a 45-minute meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Helen Clark, Mr Peters gave an assurance that he and NZ First had done nothing illegal. Miss Clark's chief of staff, Heather Simpson, Mr Peters' lawyer and a NZ First staffer also attended the session.

It appears even Miss Clark remains in the dark over how the trust operates; she told Parliament yesterday Mr Peters' word was good enough for her.

But that was a clear signal that Miss Clark's confidence in Mr Peters' continuing as foreign affairs minister now rests on his word that no laws have been broken - any evidence that electoral or other laws have been breached would give her cause to sack him.

The Electoral Commission closed off one avenue of inquiry yesterday. It said the statute of limitations had passed on election returns from 2005.

Winston Peters is continuing to defy calls for public scrutiny of the trust.

Five days after promising to answer questions about the secretive Spencer Trust, Mr Peters returned to Parliament yesterday, hitting out at opponents but offering no explanations over what had happened to money paid into the trust, administered by his brother, Wayne.

Earlier, Mr Peters was meeting his lawyer and Prime Minister Helen Clark, underscoring the serious nature of allegations against him.

They include evidence that a $25,000 donation by millionaire Sir Robert Jones, which Sir Robert believed to be for NZ First, was paid into the trust and never declared.

Sir Robert has sought an explanation from NZ First but said yesterday he was still waiting.

In Parliament yesterday, Mr Peters demanded time for a personal explanation, but instead of using it to address the issues swirling around NZ First, hit out at the news media. He told Parliament there had been a "media ego-explosion".

But when ACT leader Rodney Hide sought leave from Parliament to ask Mr Peters questions about the Spencer Trust, Mr Peters denied him the opportunity.

Mr Peters also attempted to drag in others, including National MP Craig Foss, over undeclared shares, and former Green MP Ian Ewen-Street, over his involvement with a lawyer acting for submitters to an inquiry into the fishing industry.

Mr Peters claimed that Mr Foss had not disclosed more than two million shares in Cynotech Holdings in the Registry of Pecuniary Interests - but Mr Foss released a letter yesterday from share registry Link Market Services confirming that the shares had been registered in the name of the Foss Family Trust since April 2003.

Mr Hide said yesterday that Mr Peters' personal explanation was not satisfactory. He said if Speaker Margaret Wilson failed to act on a privileges complaint he lodged a week ago against Mr Peters, he would consider a complaint to the Serious Fraud Office.

The auditor-general is awaiting the Speaker's ruling before deciding whether to investigate.

Sir Robert said being dragged into the row was embarrassing. "[But] it's a horrible business and I don't want him to get away with it."