Govt’s instances of abuse

Written By: - Date published: 11:53 pm, June 8th, 2010 - 26 comments
Categories: accountability, corruption, Politics - Tags:

Over the weekend, I read the right wing blogs with interest and their frequent references to left-wing politicians troughing at the taxpayers expense and other such instances of abuse. I then lent my mind to the National-led Government and how they have fared in this regard over the last 18 months.

This is what I came up with:

14 May 2009: Melissa Lee used taxpayer NZ on Air money to make National Party advertisements

1 August 2009: Bill English received $1000/week to live in his Wellington home while claiming his primary place of residence as Dipton. English later made changes to his family trust to claim a $900/week accommodation allowance

4 August 09: Phil Heatley rented out an apartment to another National MP while claiming $24,000/year from the taxpayer. Meanwhile, Heatley lived in another house with the taxpayer being charged $53,000 in annual rent

September 2009: Gerry Brownlee used his ministerial credit card to pay for a $151.90 lunch

11 September 2009: Bill English requested an extra hours home help from ministerial services on the same day that he warned that the Government’s books would get worse before they got better, but that “the National-led Government is bringing responsibility back to fiscal policy’

21 October 2009: Rodney Hide invited regional councillors and members of the public to an ACT Party fundraising event to hear about the future of local government. Invitations were sent on ACT Party letterhead and charged at $45 per head

30 October 2009: Rodney Hide charged the taxpayer $52000 for business-class flights for him and his girlfriend to go on a trip to London, Canada and the USA

27 November 2009: Bill English’s Diplomatic Protection Squad car was found illegally parked over mobility space while English got a haircut

30 November 2009: Bill English spent $4051 on flowers from January to November 2009

23 February 2010: Murray McCully held shares in Widespread Portfolios, a NZ investment company with mining interests here and overseas while the Government planned to receive submissions on mining projects

23 February 2010: Phil Heatley used his ministerial credit card to spend $1716 on a family holiday, the movies, a trip to Burger King, etc.

8 April 2010: David Carter did not declare his conflict of interest to Cabinet when discussing ECAN. Carter owns a farm near where the building of a dam has been proposed. The passing of the ECAN Act in March makes it more likely that the construction of the dam will go ahead. The dam would enable Carter’s farm to financially benefit from irrigation

12 April 2010: Marlborough wool exporter Richard Bell, facing the Court of Appeal, swore an affidavit alleging that Colin King told him Chris Finlayson would not act against Justice Wilson because they were friends

20 April 2010: Shortly after Nick Smith’s brother had 21 charges brought to his large South Island construction company by ECAN, Nick Smith abolished ECAN’s democratically elected board and replaced it with government appointees

12 May 2010: Nathan Guy’s ministerial accommodation was empty during August and September 2009 but was leased with taxpayer money totalling $7000 

Quite a list.

26 comments on “Govt’s instances of abuse ”

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  1. felix 1
    9 June 2010 at 12:35 am

    but but but hulun signed a pitcha for chaarity and rode in a fast car and i reckun shes not even rully married to that man its all fake dpf told me so there

  2. starboard 2
    9 June 2010 at 1:30 am

    27 November 2009: Bill English’s Diplomatic Protection Squad car was found illegally parked over mobility space while English got a haircut

    ..OMG !!! OMG !!!..thats serious abuse alright…ppfftt..you gotta be kiddin.

    • Zorr 2.1
      9 June 2010 at 1:33 am

      haha…

      Love how RWNJs can’t handle a little of their own medicine.

    • kriswgtn 2.2
      9 June 2010 at 6:09 am

      duh

      Its illegal and we get ticketed and towed but not that pig

      • BLiP 2.2.1
        9 June 2010 at 8:09 am

        . . . not to mention its terribly inconvenient for the disabled – oh, hang on, that’s right, National Ltd think the disabled and their family are only worthy of scorn and laughter.

    • mickysavage 2.3
      9 June 2010 at 7:22 am

      Read the rest of the list SB.

      That’s what I call abuse!

    • Daveosaurus 2.4
      9 June 2010 at 6:17 pm

      “..OMG !!! OMG !!!..thats serious abuse alright ppfftt..you gotta be kiddin.”

      Exactly. Almost as trivial as buying a cartoon, autographing it and donating it to charity, or being a passenger in a car which may or may not have broken the speed limit. Utterly inconsequential.

  3. kriswgtn 3
    9 June 2010 at 6:08 am

    Oink oink oink

    My question is this??

    Was Brownlee\’s lunch all for him==probably

    Fat obnoxious pig

    • starboard 3.1
      9 June 2010 at 6:55 am

      Was Brownlee\’s lunch all for him==probably

      Fat pig

      Hmm speaking of fat pigs…what was the name of your maori affairs minister again ?

    • Olwyn 3.2
      9 June 2010 at 8:43 am

      A week’s dole worth of panini.

  4. the sprout 4
    9 June 2010 at 7:32 am

    Don’t forget Worth and Groser’s dodgy trips to India to promote their private interests in aviation training.

    • starboard 4.1
      9 June 2010 at 9:47 am

      …and of course Koru club carters all too frequent trips to disaster zones , wish washy ceremonies , dubious educational institutes etc etc…trougher extradonaire !

  5. tc 5
    9 June 2010 at 8:10 am

    Imagine the list if it contained all the conflicts of interest the likes of Sideshow John etc have failed to declare when returning favours…err I mean making policy in such interests as mining/dairy to name just a couple of industrys that ministers have absoulutely no interests in as they’ve given their hard earned over to the blind.

    • Bored 5.1
      9 June 2010 at 8:14 am

      We should also mention the big transfer of tax cash upwards to their mates……not illegal or corrupt, just venal.

  6. Armchair Critic 6
    9 June 2010 at 8:18 am

    “21 October 2009: Rodney Hide invited regional councillors and members of the public to an ACT Party fundraising event to hear about the future of local government. Invitations were sent on ACT Party letterhead and charged at $45 per head”
    Could someone remind me exactly what was wrong with this? I ask because I saw a poster in a shop window over the weekend where another minister of the current government seems to be doing the same thing later on this month. I want to be sure before I put details up, though.

    • Marty G 6.1
      9 June 2010 at 8:23 am

      The problem was that Hide was speaking as a minister of the Crown while fundraising for his party. It’s permissible to charge for attendees to hear a minister speak, as long as it’s just to cover costs and the party isn’t fundraising off it

  7. tc 7
    9 June 2010 at 9:20 am

    If ever there was a symbol of abuse of position to achieve an undemocratic outcome then it’s all wrapped up in one minister for all to see….Rodney Hide.

    But then we all need to step back and remember that the people voted in a corpratocracy led by a currency trader in 08, supported by the ultra’s in ACT rather then a democratic gov’t so it’s no surprise really.

    • the sprout 7.1
      9 June 2010 at 9:35 am

      And let’s face it, Hide is really just a convenient scape-goat bogey for National.
      It’s National that gave him his warrant to do their work, and I don’t hear National complaining about what Hide’s done for the Supershitty.

  8. tc 8
    9 June 2010 at 10:14 am

    agree Sprout….just shows what a un-democratic troughing moral vacum wodney is.

  9. pollywog 9
    9 June 2010 at 11:26 am

    1 August 2009: Bill English received $1000/week to live in his Wellington home while claiming his primary place of residence as Dipton. English later made changes to his family trust to claim a $900/week accommodation allowance

    Can just imagine the slimy prick laughing all the way to the bank thinking, that’ll teach you ordinary NZ for rejecting me as PM.

    Why cant the public see that by voting Key in, they just let English in to control the country through the nations pursestrings anyway ? We didn’t want him before so i imagine we certainly don’t want him now !

    If someone can tie these two hogs together and show up the failings of one, as that of the other, then it might get more mileage than just trying to continuously smear Key.

    Targetting Key all the time takes the heat of what a spiteful, greedy failure English is.

  10. sean14 10
    9 June 2010 at 5:22 pm

    Ah, the two wrongs make a right defence.

  11. feijoa 11
    9 June 2010 at 5:26 pm

    Not to mention all their friends waiting to get their hands onto ACC, mining, and all the SOEs. Who are the National party’s funders?

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