Prime Minister Helen Clark kept her distance from Labour Party donor Owen Glenn at the opening of Auckland University's new business building on Thursday night.
The closest Glenn got to the PM during the opening was a hongi with her husband.
As the billionaire delivered his speech at the building which bears his name, he jokingly said he would like to be the first person to say hello to the Prime Minister.
But when Clark spoke, there was no acknowledgement.
They were seated at opposite ends of the university auditorium and didn't speak to each other during the function.
It has been reported that the pair held private talks in an upstairs room of the new building following the function.
If so it would have been the first meeting between the pair since a series of comments from Glenn which has put Labour on the back foot.
The billionaire is at the centre of the donation scandal that prompted Labour's President Mike Williams to offer his resignation.
Williams mistake was over his handling of donations made by Glenn, making misleading statements about what had and had not been donated to the Labour Party before and after the election in 2005.
The saga deepened after revelations Glenn was being considered for the post of honorary consul to Monaco.
Williams' offer to resign is seen by his colleagues as over the top, the Prime Minister declining to accept the offer, saying he had made an honest mistake.
But National says it is a sign that Labour's leadership is in disarray.
National deputy leader, Bill English, says it is no surprise the resignation was offered and declined.
He says Mike Williams has been a competent person for Labour and it would be very difficult for the party if it had to run an election campaign without him.
