Len “Jump-Start” Brown, or more to the point his Labour lickspittle advisor Conor Roberts don’t seem to have noticed the change in the wind of public tolerance over expenses.
After a week of expense scandals and a Minister resigning, Len “Jump-Start” Brown has decided to keep the issue alive by jumping in the media and trying to justify a nice little jaunt up to Japan for him and the missus.
Manukau Mayor Len Brown is defending taking his wife on his sister-city trip to Utsunomiya City, saying it would have been an insult to his Japanese counterparts if he hadn’t.
Mr Brown, a candidate for the Super City mayoralty, is faced with controversy for spending more than $16,000 of ratepayer money to take his wife, Shan Inglis, and three staff to Utsunomiya.
Mr Brown said the Japanese mayor would have suffered a loss of “face” had Ms Inglis not travelled because both the Mayor and Mayoress of Utsunomiya hosted them.
What a load of shit, clearly “Jump-Start” knows very little of Japanese or almost any other Asian culture where women are virtually second class citizens, the kind that should be seen rarely and heard never.
“Jump-Start should stop making excuses and refund the $16,000 that he used to fly and accommodate his missus in Japan.
And while we are on about the cash, he must have used Business Class at least for that because any flight website you care to mention has flights from Auckland to Manukau at less than $3000. I don’t begrudge “Jump-Start” that though, after all he is frail man, but coughing to take the missus is over the top.
He should have followed the lead of the Prime Minister and paid for her-in-doors himself.
