Worse than I imagined

• Eddie
• 13 years ago
• Categories: corruption, john key, national
• Tags: bully state, MPs accommodation rort, rort, travel allowances

So now we learn from rort-buster Pete Hodgson that Pansy Wong and her husband have been running private companies out of her taxpayer-funded electorate office. This is worse than anything I thought would be turned up by Lockwood Smith’s investigation. I don’t see how she can possibly remain in Parliament now.

Of course, it’s just the latest in a list of rorts, rip-offs, and abuses of power by National MPs this term that beggars belief. Here’s a by no means complete list:

• housing rorts,
• rorts of the new housing allowance system that was implemented to replace the system that was being rorted,
• flying round in helicopters for kicks on the taxpayer dime,
• abuses of the travel ministerial travel allowance,
• fake blind trusts,
• fake primary residences,
• releasing the private details of beneficiaries to bully them,
• failing to apologise as promised when found to have breached their privacy,
• abuse of the MP travel allowance,
• whatever the hell Richard Worth was up to,
• charging private expenses to the public purse,
• threatening submitters to select committees,
• and now a private business operating on taxpayer funded premises.

What next? A meth lab in the National Party staff room?

This goes beyond a few bad eggs or innocent mistakes. This is a culture of National MPs abusing their power and pocketing our money.

With such widespread rorting the blame must go to the top. It is Key’s job to control this bunch of muggers and thieves. He should be firing the corrupt. Instead, he’s setting a terrible example and lowering standards. He has been caught out lying and abusing his privileges as an MP over the Tranzrail shares. He has been caught out lying about his blind trust and the interests including a winery he owns through it.

Key should be setting an example. Well, he is – a bad one. When he’s not running around trying to get in the background of photos of Obama he’s up to his ears in his own rorts.

It’s all very well for Key to belatedly follow every other political leader in calling for the MP travel allowances to be reined in but when you ask who gave his ministers permission to behave like this there’s only one person to point the finger at.