A payoff?

Returns of party donations were released today, and National's one shows an interesting surprise: Oravida gave them $30,000 on 23 December 2013, just a few weeks after Judith Collins's "private" dinner with them and an "unnamed Chinese border official"^TM in China.

Was it a payoff for services rendered? It certainly looks that way.

Meanwhile, it looks like those given knighthoods by National - specifically Graeme Douglas and William Gallagher - have continued to be extremely generous. Its amazing how closely correlated gongs and big donations are, almost as if they were selling them on installment.