By Sia Aston
Finanace Minister Bill English is struggling to shake the perception he milked the taxpayer for hefty housing allowances until it all became public.
Labour’s Trevor Mallard claims that despite living in Wellington since around 1996, English has claimed an out of town allowance by saying his primary place of residence is in Southland, which the Speaker has cleared.
“Trevor Mallard doesn’t decide about the parliamentary rules, the speaker does,” argues English.
Those rules saw Ministerial Services pay $700 a week rent into a trust, for English to live in a million-dollar Karori home.
English was a trustee, but after the election he changed the trust arrangements, effectively putting himself at arms length from it.
With no pecuniary interest or financial benefit in the trust, he was legally eligible for the full allowance.
“There was a perception problem around the arrangements I previously had as a minister. Because of those perception problems I paid the money back, what else can I do?” he said.
English paid back around $12,000, so right now he gets just $24,000 a year, the same as ordinary MPs.
But the rules were changed last month and from next year that goes up to $30,000 – the new limit for ministers who own their own homes.
Ministers who rent will get $37,500, which is down from $48,000.
“Ministers are expected to act lawfully and behave in a way that upholds and is seen to uphold the highest ethical standards,” says Labour MP Pete Hodgson.
English says this has all been dealt with and wants to move on. The Prime Minister agrees, saying his deputy has met the legal test.
But the continued battle for English is the lingering perception of extravagant use of taxpayer money by a finance minister calling for public restraint in a recession.
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