‘The last donations scandal nearly finished off NZ First... But Peters came back from the political dead.’

If the latest questions swirling around about NZ First and secret donors sound familiar, that’s because they are. Remember that infamous ‘‘no’’ sign that nearly obliterated NZ First more than a decade ago? Back then, NZ First leader Winston Peters was fighting off allegations about the secretive Spencer Trust and a $100,000 donation from philanthropist Owen Glenn (the ‘‘no’’ sign was his response to questions about Glenn).

Now Peters is batting off questions about more than $500,000 in donations to the NZ First Foundation as just more ‘‘fake news’’ .

The last donations scandal nearly finished off NZ First; the party was voted out of Parliament in 2008, a blow that would have destroyed any other politician. But Peters came back from the political dead.

The latest revelations about NZ First and its secret donations raise serious questions. It is perfectly fair to ask to what extent the party’s big-money donors have influenced party policy.

Those questions are even more pertinent in light of the party’s considerable clout around the Cabinet table.

But nobody apart from the media – and certainly not Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – seems willing to ask those questions..

If Peters gets up again from this latest controversy it will be because voters are deeply cynical about politicians.

The ‘‘plague on all their houses’’ doctrine applies; people will probably take the view that whatever NZ First is doing, the rest are doing too.

We all know that when it comes to big money, politicians are like moths to a candle. They sell access at dinners for thousands of dollars a head, then insist ‘‘nothing to see here’’. They chase big-money donors but promise they have no influence over policy.

The dramatic growth in the number of lobbyists suggests otherwise – they are paid huge amounts of money to get their clients in a minister’s door.

And for years politicians have paid lip service to calls for greater transparency.

So if the latest allegations don’t hurt NZ First it’s because every other political party is tainted by association. They’ve only got themselves to blame.