"Perkbuster" Rodney Hide whisked his girlfriend away on
another tax-payer funded trip - a midwinter tropical break in
Hawaii.
The Act New Zealand leader - under intense scrutiny after
taking Louise Crome on a ministerial trip to Europe and
America in September - also took her on a $10,000 holiday to
Hawaii in July.
This week, Mr Hide quietly repaid the money without publicly
revealing anything about the holiday.
Mr Hide, the Minister of Local Government, did not disclose
the Hawaii holiday when he was first questioned about his
$25,000 bill for his personal and partner's international
travel over the three months from July, saying it was a
mixture of Ms Crome's flights on the Europe trip and her New
Zealand travel.
Asked yesterday if further international travel was included
in that total, his spokeswoman said Mr Hide and Ms Crome had
gone to Hawaii using the "holidays perk" - a 90% subsidy MPs
and their partners get on private international travel.
"He booked the flights through parliamentary travel, but
after reflecting on that decision over the last week or so,
he decided to repay the full cost of the Hawaiian airfares."
He had repaid the $10,022.40 cost of the flights this week.
Ms Crome's flights to Europe and America cost about $12,000,
on top of the $26,872 for Mr Hide's ministerial travel.
Asked why Mr Hide had not revealed the Hawaii holiday or
corrected the amount being reported on the Europe trip, his
spokeswoman said there was no intention to mislead or
deceive, but the minister had not had the exact figures with
him.
He had known the figures would come out in the release of
MPs' expenses, and he had been one of the main advocates for
the expenses being released.
"So there was never any intention to deceive or hide anything
because it would all be out in the public domain anyway."
Mr Hide came in for widespread criticism for using the perk
to take Ms Crome with him, sidestepping an edict by Prime
Minister John Key that ministers wanting to take partners on
international travel should pay for it themselves.
Yesterday, Mr Key said he did not want to have a blanket rule
on MPs not taking partners, and was comfortable with them
using their travel discounts.
But incidents over the past week showed caution was needed.
"What MPs do need to do is recognise pretty clearly we live
in a modern, new world where there is increased media
scrutiny, where there is an expectation from the public about
the way their taxpayers' dollars will be spent.
"I think they'd better start learning fast that they need to
meet those expectations."
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said he did not want to
comment on the Hawaii holiday.
Mr Hide built up a reputation as a perkbuster and has opposed
the holidays perk.
He defended his use of it to take Ms Crome with him by saying
he did not like the perk, but was not going to be a martyr by
not using it if others were.
He said he would use it again, but later said he would think
twice before doing so.
The news he had used the perk for a private holiday could
further damage his credibility, and the decision to repay the
cost of it shows Mr Hide is feeling the pressure of the
public response.
The criticism of Mr Hide was heightened by claims the pair
timed their European trip to fit in with the wedding of Ms
Crome's brother.
Yesterday, Mr Key said the timing was possibly "fortuitous"
rather than deliberately arranged.
Act MP Sir Roger Douglas also came in for criticism after
spending about $44,000 of taxpayers' money on a trip to
Britain with his wife this year.
- Claire Trevett
