Labour vows to continue attack

Labour says the $32,000 Deputy Prime Minister Bill English has paid back is not enough, and the party will continue to attack him over the taxpayer-funded accommodation allowance he has claimed.

In a bid to end the ongoing controversy, Mr English yesterday gave up the allowance and paid back the money received since becoming a minister in November.

But senior Labour MP Pete Hodgson said there was still an issue over the $24,000 a year Mr English claimed as an Opposition MP.

Mr English's declaration the Southland town of Dipton was his "primary residence" let him get the out-of-town allowance even though he was living in the Wellington suburb of Karori in a house owned by a family trust.

"There's still a question about where his primary residence is when he's been living in Wellington all these years," Mr Hodgson said.

The Dunedin North MP said Labour would also continue to question Mr English about changes made to the deed of the trust when he was switching to the larger ministerial allowance, and Prime Minister John Key's involvement as Minister responsible for Ministerial Services.

Mr Hodgson said Labour would wait to see if the Office of the Auditor-general - which began "preliminary inquiries" last week - ruled on the primary residence issue before deciding whether to demand more money was paid back.

Mr English and his family have been in the Karori home since 2007, and have lived in Wellington for many years, meaning any such demands could end up being for more than $100,000.

Mr English yesterday said he had done nothing wrong and Dipton was still his primary residence.

"I stand by the view my home in Dipton is my home.

"I live in the house I was brought up in with 11 siblings.

"It is on English Rd. We've been there for 120 years and it is not up to anyone else to decide whether that's home or not home."

He did not believe he should also pay back the money received while an Opposition MP, as speakers Margaret Wilson and Jonathan Hunt signed off the arrangement.

Mr English has been caught up in the row since July, when it was revealed he was claiming a much higher ministerial allowance for living in the same house he did as an MP.

He initially paid back the $12,000 difference, and yesterday said he had paid back all of it - a total of $32,000. -

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