Endorsements and undisclosed donations

based Oravida, which employs her husband as a director, has put her in the Opposition’s firing line after the company pictured her on its website paying tribute to its milk and scampi.

The Cabinet manual clearly states that ministers should not endorse products but Ms Collins says she had no control over what Oravida put on its website after she visited the company on a taxpayer funded trip to China.

Mr Key has sacked a minister before for conflict of interest in relation to his overseas business interests – but he said Ms Collins’ case differed from his former minster Richard Worth, because there was no personal gain involved in her visit to Oravida.

But he made it clear that if the Cabinet office advice suggested a problem ‘‘I would take action’’.

Meanwhile, there was finger pointing at the weekend over which of the two leaders, David Cunliffe or John Key, was most hypocritical over demanding greater transparency from their opponent about anonymous donations to their party.

After spending last week demanding Mr Cunliffe be upfront about anonymous donations to his leadership campaign last year, Mr Key was asked to justify National’s own anonymous donors, in particular those who paid $5000 a head to attend a dinner at Parnell restaurant Antoines to hear Mr Key speak. The fundraising dinners were not secret and it has been widely reported in the past about how much they raised for the National Party’s coffers – well over $100,000. Antoine’s owner Tony Astle said he organised the dinners because he was a big fan of Mr Key.

Mr Cunliffe said yesterday the guest list would have been known to Mr Key, so the donations could not be regarded as anonymous and he should name them.

But the fundraising dinners appear to be well within the rules, which state that only donations to a political party over $15000 must be disclosed. Meanwhile Mr Cunliffe acknowledged that Labour also holds fundraising dinners though he was not aware of any with ticket prices over $1500 – the threshold for donations to an electorate candidate.