Just in case you all missed it all in the rush to denigrate a former National minister there is this case of a former Labour minister troughing it up fraudulently. Turns out that it isn’t only National/NZ First MPs that are dodgy.
Former Labour cabinet minister David Butcher has lost an appeal against his convictions for fraudulently claiming air fares under a scheme for former MPs.
Butcher, aged 51, an economist of Hataitai, Wellington, was found guilty of three charges late last year. He was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay reparation of $9219 for trips to Washington, Los Angeles and Beijing.
Former MPs qualify for a rebate on international air travel.
Because of Butcher’s length of service in Parliament, from 1978 to 1990, he was entitled to claim 75 per cent of the price of a business class return fare from New Zealand to London each year.
The rebate did not apply if Butcher was travelling on business or if some source other than Butcher was paying the rest of the fare.
The Crown said Butcher was disqualified from getting cheap fares for the three trips on both counts.
If this was the private sector being caught out you can just bet Pedobear Power or someone similar would be screaming for legislative changes to remove the temptation of rorting taxpayers, but since it is ex-MP perks we are talking about here there is fat chance of that happening.
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