Labour’s $600-a-head dinner

Finance Minister Grant Robertson gave a post-Budget speech at a $600-a-head Labour fundraiser at the exclusive Wellington Club. It has drawn comparisons to the previous National Government’s ‘‘Cabinet club’’ scandal.

According to several attendees, about 40 people – including party supporters, business figures and corporate lobbyists – were at the dinner hosted by Labour president Nigel Haworth on Wednesday, at which Robertson was the key attraction.

A similar dinner was held at the even more exclusive Northern Club in Auckland last night.

National leader Simon Bridges has accused the Government of hypocrisy, after Labour once described National’s events, which appear similar to the one attended by Robertson, as ‘‘cashfor-access’’.

The concern is that wealthy figures are able to gain access and insight that is not available to the general public.

Events such as this also come close to the line in terms of the rules for ministers.

The Cabinet manual states: ‘‘Holding ministerial office is regarded as a full-time occupation and is remunerated as such. Accordingly ... accepting additional payment for doing anything that could be regarded as a ministerial function is not permissible’’.

This means that if Robertson was attending in his ministerial capacity, rather than as an MP, Labour would be unable to use the event as a fundraiser.

A spokeswoman for Robertson

refused to comment, describing the dinner as ‘‘a party matter’’.

The prime minister, who is charged with ensuring Cabinet rules are being adhered to, has not responded to requests for comment.

At the Wellington Club dinner, Robertson spoke about May’s Budget and future Budgets. One person who attended claimed he also signalled policy set to be announced in the coming weeks.

Another person at the dinner described Robertson as ‘‘extremely on message’’, meaning those who attended would have gained few insights.

After his speech, Robertson went table to table for more private conversations with small groups.

Haworth said, as Labour president, it was his right to invite any party member to a dinner. The dinners were part of a series of events Labour ran and $600 was the standard price, he said.

He refused to reveal how much profit the party made from the event, saying ‘‘that’s for us to know’’.

Haworth said Robertson should not be speaking about party matters, given he was there as an MP, not finance minister.

‘‘He was there, invited by me, as a senior member of the party.’’

He insisted that Robertson’s speech was ‘‘about the economy, much more generally’’ rather than the Budget, before adding that ‘‘of course the Budget came into it’’.

While in Opposition, leading Labour MPs described revelations about National’s ‘‘Cabinet club’’ – where supporters paid large sums to hear ministers speak – as a ‘‘cash-for-access scandal’’. No one from Labour has attempted to draw a distinction between Robertson’s dinners and the National Party events.