The broader problem for Labour is that its secret loan from Glenn is contrary to the spirit of the Government's own Electoral Finance Act. The legislation is deeply flawed, notably with respect to the harsh regime governing third-party lobby groups during election year, but the act did at least promise to make party financing more transparent.
Williams' equivocation over whether Labour had received donations from Glenn since 2005 gives no grounds for optimism that this year's election really will be more open and accountable in terms of political funding.
The loan is especially hard for Labour to deal with because it weakens one of its own pet arguments. Once millionaire John Key became National leader, Labour delighted in claiming that he would take the party to the Right and pander to the agenda of a wealthy elite.
Admittedly, Labour's primary targets are its opponent's anonymous donors. But its negative image of National still becomes more difficult to sustain when its own sugar daddy, both in 2005 and last year, was a formidably rich expatriate who lives in the tax haven of Monaco.
