This is what corruption looks like

NZ First seems to be nakedly trying to enrich itself from public office:

A powerful New Zealand First figure helped establish a forestry company that then pushed for money from two key funding streams controlled by a New Zealand First Minister.

An RNZ investigation has found Brian Henry, lawyer for Winston Peters and judicial officer for the New Zealand First party, became a founding director of NZ Future Forest Products in March.

The company immediately began its bid for money from the Provincial Growth Fund and also sought funding from the One Billion Trees programme - both overseen by New Zealand First Minister Shane Jones.

The Billion Trees funding bid was rejected by officials at Te Uru Rākau, Forestry New Zealand, on 22 August.

Less than a week after that rejection, Future Forest Products appointed the partner of New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters as a director of the company.

[...]

Ms Trotman was made the fourth director of the forestry company on 27 August, when the company bid for at least $1 million from the Provincial Growth Fund was still live.

They were turned down for that as well, fortunately, but its more than a little disturbing that they tried, and got the Deputy Prime Minister's partner on board for it. What's also disturbing is that the ultimate ownership of this company is unknown, hidden behind a "limited partnership" designed (by National) to give secrecy. Is it more politicians? NZ First's mysterious foundation? Or the Deputy Prime Minister himself? We simply don't know, and thanks to National's love of corrupt foreign money, we can't. But here we see how the foreign money laundering regime can potentially be used to cover up domestic corruption. Its a perfect example of why we need a public beneficial ownership register, to ensure that the rich and corrupt can't hide their dodgy financial dealings.