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Labour MP Chris Carter will be back in parliament on Tuesday, hoping he has put the messy episode of his excessive ministerial spending behind him and he can get on with life as a demoted caucus member.
Carter yesterday called a press conference to apologise to taxpayers and his colleagues for travel spending he incurred while he was a minister in the previous government.
He had previously been reluctant to admit he had done anything wrong, and party leader Phil Goff sent him home last week after reporters chased him around parliament asking him why he had not apologised.
He had already been demoted from 7th to 13th rank in the caucus. His foreign affairs portfolio was removed and he was instead given conservation.
"I'll be absolutely honest - at first I didn't think I had done anything wrong," he said yesterday.
"I have thought about that, I've been at home, consulted my partner, reflected on it and concede there is an issue of excessive travel and the amount of times my partner travelled."
Carter said the trips were important, but he had used his senior position to take on more of them than he should have.
He also said his bad handling of the situation stretched to comments he made about being picked on because of his homosexuality.
Goff yesterday accepted the apology as genuine and said he was not going to hand out any further punishment.
"He had a very rough week last week, partly self-inflicted," Goff said.
"I think he does understand that there was genuine public concern and he needed to acknowledge that and to make a commitment that in the future this sort of thing won't happen."
Goff said he had not put pressure on Carter to apologise because the MP had needed to face the consequences of his actions for himself.
"Like all other members of caucus, he will be judged on his performance when further down the track I consider further changes," Goff said.
