It’s hard to take a man seriously who talks about fiscal responsibility when he just spent $44,000 of our money on his overseas travel – spending which he calls an “entitlement.”
Once a bludger, always a bludger.
It’s hard to take a man seriously who talks about fiscal responsibility when he just spent $44,000 of our money on his overseas travel – spending which he calls an “entitlement.”
Once a bludger, always a bludger.
11 comments:
Oh come now PC, you're beneficiary bashing again.
I spent $3500 on accomadation and travel in the last six months, saved my company $2million in the process, and ate a noodle shops to keep the cost down. 120 Mp's spent and average of $34,166 each in the same six months, and cost us all a bundle & made trouble.
"Oh come now PC, you're beneficiary bashing again."
Yes. I am. And just look how much more expensive these bastards are to run.
As I read it that is local air travel. The overseas travel is separately listed.
Anyone who thinks flying around New Zealand is a perk must be dreaming.
All that travel requirement is one reason I turned down an invitation to stand for Parliament.
Owen, he was just on Radio Live explaining that the lion's share of the bill was for a trip to Britain with his family.
"the lion's share of the bill was for a trip to Britain with his family."
This may be so but the total of $44,000 is his total, air travel. Most of that may be overseas travel, but it is still inaccurate. Even if say $39,000 was overseas, it is still in accurate to say he spent $44,000 on overseas travel.
But to label it as "overseas travel" implies that he spent more on domestic travel over an above that.
I am in no way condoning the money spent, but it pays to be accurate.
maybe he did it to prove his own point...that it's all about getting the incentives right.
But he was ENTITLED!
As a 'fair and balanced' sort of chap, I feel Douglas has a point that the chaps who decided this rort was an independent Remuneration Authority and nothing to do with MPs.
You also need to take into account how old Douglas is and that it is coming up 40 years since he was first elected to Parliament.
I should point out that Douglas became eligible for discounts on travel (for life) around a decade before I was even born! ha ha!
Regarding the "90% discount for long service", he reached the required 'long service' even before he became Minister of Finance 25 years ago.
However I do think it is outrageous Douglas has taken advantage of this 'entitlement'; as an incumbent MP (in his 8th term) he should have known better.
Yes, there seems to be have been some clumsy reporting. But the information is not detailed and I don't think it should be. Having every dollar spent in the public domain is just another reason not to stand for Parliament.
However, my point still stands. Anyone who thinks flying round New Zealand is a perk obviously does not do much travelling. Overseas travel on business is even harder and I was so relieved when I no longer spent three months of every year overseas. However, travelling on government business with minders every step of the way is quite different as I discovered when I travelled though some Australian cities as part of the commission of enquiry into the establishment of casinos in NZ. Mind you I remember thinking I was glad we not on a tour of sewage plants.
I used to wonder how people like Kissenger survived but the minder process means you are not in that continued state of anxiety about time zones, time to the airport and where the hell you are actually going. Again, it makes it possible - still no perk or pleasure.
They played a Bob Dylan song at the gym today. One line stood out:
"Steal a little and they throw you in jail, Steal a lot and they make you king."
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