Owen’s still waiting for his Monaco bauble

Owen Glenn says he has been promised the NZ consulship to Monaco, and is in a hurry for it. The NZ Herald reports:

Labour’s biggest donor, expatriate businessman Owen Glenn, says the Government is planning to make him New Zealand’s honorary consul in Monaco, if Foreign Minister Winston Peters signs it off.

Mr Glenn said Prime Minister Helen Clark had approved it and had told Mr Peters to “get on with it”.

…The Herald had been asking about his living in Monaco and he replied: “The Government is planning to make me the consul-general [honorary consul] of Monaco.”

He added: “If Winston ever gets off his arse – you can print that!”

Hmmn, one certainly has to credit Mr Glenn with a sense of humour – he obviously follows the news and read the story about Chester Borrows note to Winston in the House.

Mr Glenn said he had met Mr Peters for breakfast in Paris during the Rugby World Cup.

He said it might be presumptuous of him to say he was going to get the job, “because if they haven’t followed through, maybe they have changed their mind, but they haven’t said anything”.

“It’s up to Winston. He’s Foreign Minister.”

Mr Glenn gave Labour $500,000 before the 2005 election and it was revealed only last week that after the election he also gave it an interest-free $100,000 loan that has since been repaid.

I can almost hear the whooshing sound of OIAs galore being filed with Winston and MFAT, asking for documents relating to the proposed appointment.