The Finance Minister has criticised Shane Jones for a $30,000 budget blowout incurred while attend a mining conference in Canada, saying he has made “significant errors”.
But Jones has immediately fired back, telling RNZ, Nicola Willis “must be in possession of information I don’t have, because to the best of my knowledge there were no errors made by my office”.
And New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is defending his deputy’s travel expenses including a private limousine on standby and an upgrade to business class flights, saying it’s “nothing out of the ordinary”.
The spending of $4,000 to have a limo on standby for three days is obscene. No one would do this with their own money.
I have no issue with Ministers flying business class. But you can’t get approval for premium economy and then just switch to business class without getting further approval.
A Minister should ensure that the cost of their trips is within the level approved by Cabinet. That doesn’t mean they personally monitor every cent. It means they instruct their staff to do it. It is a basic function of ministerial office staff to manage travel budgets.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
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