By Kim Choe
New Zealand's first Asian MP has resigned her cabinet posts after it was revealed her husband conducted private business while on a taxpayer-funded holiday.
Pansy Wong says it was the honourable thing to do.
The gates were closed at Ms Wong's east Auckland electorate office today and they may also have closed on her political career.
The Minister of Women's and Ethnic Affairs has resigned over her and her husband's use of the parliamentary travel allowance.
They are entitled to a 90 percent subsidy on their personal international travel, but on at least one occasion Ms Wong's husband conducted business when the taxpayer paid for their flight to Beijing.
“The rules state that it has to be purely for private travel and so therefore he has breached the rules and she has failed to exercise the proper oversight,” Prime Minister John Key says.
Labour says Ms Wong should be gone from Parliament altogether.
“John Key needs to accept his responsibility as leader,” Phil Goff says. “There can only be one outcome for repeated abuse of a privilege like this.”
Despite Ms Wong being one of the few Asian representatives in Parliament, comments on local Chinese language website Skykiwi were overwhelmingly critical of her.
One said:
"The reason she got into Parliament was because of the Chinese, and therefore she should do more for the Chinese community".
Another said: "She's done nothing to deserve to be a Minister in the first place, she should've gone a long time ago."
However, there was some support for her in her botany electorate.
“She's always seemed honest, good, straight, hard-working politician for our area; I know she's popular,” says RSA member Mike Cole.
Ms Wong wouldn't speak to media today, but in a statement accepted that she was at fault, and said:
"Given that, the appropriate and honourable thing to do is to offer my resignation to the Prime Minister. He has been gracious enough to accept it."
Ms Wong says she will pay back whatever a parliamentary services investigation finds she misused.
The Prime Minister says that will amount to thousands of dollars.
3 News