Wellington  - The future of New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters was under a cloud on Saturday as a millionaire who donated cash to his party accused him of "blatant lying."

Wealthy property developer Sir Robert Jones insisted that Peters asked him for a donation to his nationalist New Zealand First party before the last election in 2005 and said he was asked to make out his cheque for 25,000 New Zealand dollars (about 18,500 US dollars) to a trust administered by Peters' brother.

Wellington - New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters hit back Friday at a series of charges of secret cash donations made to his party, dubbing them "unsubstantiated rubbish."

Peters called a press conference to condemn "a campaign of innuendo, misrepresentation and character assassination promoted by some particular interests for their own purposes."

He said that every donation his nationalist New Zealand First party had received was legal and nobody, including himself, had personally retained any of them.

Wellington - The rich are getting richer in New Zealand, despite the global financial crisis and an economy in recession, according to a report published Friday.

The richest New Zealander, businessman Graeme Hart, more than doubled his wealth to 6 billion New Zealand dollars (about 4.4 billion US dollars) in the last year, the weekly National Business Review reported in its annual Rich List supplement.

Hart, who has topped the list for six of the last seven years, heads investment company Rank Group, which paid 2.7 billion US dollars for the packaging and consumer business of the multinational Alcoa Inc earlier this year.

Wellington - The New Zealand Parliament formally approved a free trade agreement with China Thursday, marking what Trade Minister Phil Goff dubbed a "historic advance" in the country's trading relationships.

Goff said the agreement, which passed in a 104-17 vote, would come into force on October 1. It was eventually expected to lift New Zealand's exports to China - its fourth largest market - by 180 million to 280 million US dollars a year.

New Zealand became the first developed country to conclude a free trade pact with China in April when Prime Minister Helen Clark and her Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, attended its signing in Beijing.

Wellington - Winds topping 100 kilometres an hour and torrential rains halted flights and inter-island ferries sailings out of the New Zealand capital, Wellington, Friday as forecasters warned there could be worse to come.

Air New Zealand cancelled flights, saying high winds made it too dangerous for planes to take off and land at the airport, and ferries scheduled to sail to the South Island stayed in port as 5-metre-plus swells were recorded in the Cook Strait.

Wellington - New Zealand's consumer watchdog Commerce Commission on Thursday launched an investigation into the country's third largest finance company, Hanover Finance Limited, after it froze repayments to 16,500 investors owed more than 550 million New Zealand dollars (about 421 million US dollars).

The commission said its investigation centred on whether the company had breached the Fair Trading Act by making misleading representations to prospective investors and the public generally.

Hanover Finance suspended business on Wednesday, with its joint owner Mark Hotchin saying, "Against a backdrop of global credit uncertainties, falling property prices and lower reinvestment rates, the industry model has collapsed."