新西兰英语 53 Winston Peters

　　On Friday, Winston Peters, leader of the New Zealand First Party, announced that he was stepping down from his job as Minister. He said this is a temporary move because the Serious Fraud¹ Office is checking on money that some people said they gave him. The rules of Parliament² say that MPs must tell about any gift of more than $500. If Mr Peters received a lot of money and kept it a secret, this is fraud. It could be serious fraud because he is an MP and also the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Serious Fraud Office will check the stories about three donations⁴ of money. One donation³ was $100,000 which a New Zealand millionaire, now living overseas, said he paid to Mr Peters. Mr Peters said he did not know about the money. His lawyer, Brian Henry, said that he did not tell Mr Peters about this money. It was used for paying legal bills.
Sir Bob Jones, another New Zealand millionaire, living in Wellington, said he gave Mr Peters a donation of $25,000. A New Zealand First Party official said this money went into the Spencer Trust. This is a company which looks after money for the New Zealand First Party. Mr Peters said he does not know anything about the money in this Trust.
Another rich family, the Vela family, also gave Mr Peters money, maybe as much as $150,000. It’s possible this money also went into the Spencer Trust. There is now a limit on how much a political party can spend on elections⁶ so the government is not happy about secret trust money.
John Key, the leader of the National Party, said that he would not let Mr Peters become a Minister if National wins the election⁵. He knows that this could mean that National will not be the next government because if they have more MPs after the election, they might still need the New Zealand First Party’s support.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand First Party supports the Labour government. They have promised to vote with the government next week over the Emissions⁷ Trading Act which will force companies to pay for the carbon dioxide they send into the air.

1 fraud   

n.骗子，欺骗，欺诈，诡计

参考例句：

• We will introduce legal safeguards against fraud.我们将推行防止欺诈的法律条款。
• The prosecutor accused the defendant of fraud.原告控告被告犯有欺诈罪。

2 Parliament   

n.议会，国会

参考例句：

• She won a seat in Parliament at the election.她在选举中赢得了议会中的席位。
• The drug was banned by an act of parliament.议会的法案明令禁止该药品。

3 donation   

n.捐赠，捐献，捐助；捐赠物

参考例句：

• She made a personal donation to the fund.她以个人名义向基金会捐款。
• Then next big donation of musical instruments came from Germany.第二笔音乐乐器的大型捐助来自德国。

4 donations   

n.捐赠( donation的名词复数 )；赠送；捐款；捐赠物

参考例句：

• The hospital receives a good deal of money in donations. 这家医院收到捐赠来的大笔款项。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The charity is completely reliant on public donations. 这一慈善团体完全依靠公众捐款。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 election   

n.选举，选择权；当选

参考例句：

• There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
• The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。

6 elections   

n.选举，当选，推举( election的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
• He emerged victorious in the elections. 他在竞选中脱颖而出获得胜利。

7 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。