NEW ZEALAND HERALD: New Zealand First MP Dail Jones has been dropped down his party's list in apparent punishment for his role in the Owen Glenn-donation scandal.
NZ First announced its list today, which dumped the sitting MP down to 14th place - below the party's six other sitting MPs and seven others.
Ranked 10 on the party's 2005 list, Mr Jones returned to Parliament last year when the late Brian Donnelly retired and the two candidates above him decided not to enter Parliament.
His rapid descent down the list appears punishment for landing his leader Winston Peters in hot water over funding issues.
As speculation grew in February that expatriate billionaire Labour supporter Owen Glenn may have donated to NZ First, Mr Jones told reporters the party had received a large anonymous donation - of close to $100,000 - late last year.
The comments ignited a firestorm of speculation the donation had come from Mr Glenn and led to Mr Peters holding a press conference where he held up a sign saying "No" to questions of whether he or his party had ever received money from the shipping magnate.
It was subsequently revealed Mr Glenn gave $100,000 towards Mr Peters' legal costs in his failed 2005 Tauranga electoral petition, leading to Parliament censuring Mr Peters for failing to declare it.
The issue also opened up a can of worms regarding the party's funding which ended with Mr Peters admitting after weeks of denials that the party had breached electoral laws in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by failing to declare donations from the secretive Spencer Trust.
Mr Jones was president for most of that time, but said he had no knowledge of the Spencer Trust.
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