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There is a higher level of expectation on politicians now and they should be aware of that, Prime Minister John Key says.
Journalists were yesterday given thousands of documents under the Official Information Act covering the use of the cards since 2003 - most of the previous government's time in office, and updating the records of current ministers.
They revealed years of laxity, carelessness and sometimes deliberate use of taxpayer money for personal entertainment and purchases.
See what Ministers have bought with their ministerial
credit cards.
The money was paid back, but the records reveal the frustration of
Ministerial Services as it prodded and pushed ministers into
producing credit card and reconciliation statements.
Key said there was always degree of subjectivity but much of what was being discussed was within the rules.
"The question is whether the rules are set appropriately," he told Radio New Zealand.
"There's nothing like the glare of the media, I think, to sharpen the minds of those who are guardians of taxpayers money."
Ministers have a "very unusual job" which required travelling a lot and spending time away from home, Key said.
However, there was increasing transparency on their expenses now internationally and the current situation did not reflect well on politics in general, he said.
"It's the sort of thing that can undermine confidence in politicians."
Key said he would now await the Auditor-General's report into the review of the system and the way the rules work to see if further improvements can be made.
Labour MP Shane Jones stands out as the most embarrassed after yesterday's release.
Jones suffered a series of humiliating media conferences as he fronted up over using his card to pay for porn movies in hotels and numerous personal purchases well outside the rules.
The man once tipped as a future Labour leader says he's been humiliated and is contrite but won't be making any rash decisions in the heat of the moment.
He says it's highly unlikely he's going to quit.
"I've swallowed multiple dead rats. I've pummelled and pillaged my own reputation," he said last night.
"But I'm not going to make any rash decisions...it's highly unlikely I'm going to quit."
Next week he will face his caucus colleagues, and some of them may think his time is up.
The government wasn't exempt and Trade Minister Tim Groser was shown up as a big spender on his numerous overseas trips, most of it on expensive meals and drinks.
Key said overall Groser's spending was withing the rules and "probably reasonable".
"I've made it clear to him that there are high expectations on ministers, there's a high level of scrutiny and I make that comment to all ministers."
Ministers have to be able to "look taxpayers in the eye" and taxpayers must be able to be confident that ministers were spending their money appropriately, Key said.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentbalducci said on 2010-06-11 @ 15:16 NZDT: Report abusive post
See there you have it what i said before, the prime minister's credit card was stolen in that time, do we have to apply deduction and combination lol or just lets party
balducci said on 2010-06-11 @ 09:52 NZDT: Report abusive post
it's strange that john key stays pretty quiet and away of it, maybe he realizes that the cost of (Popeye) dr Smith defamation claim is far more than all the money spend by those mp's on the wrong things and just because popeye smith said the wrong things, that he thought was right, that stupid attitude cost the taxpayer maybe half a million dollars. Apart from that his own ministers are not squeaky clean either. the thing with watching porno is that you watching things you wanne do yourselflol
cueboy said on 2010-06-11 @ 09:46 NZDT: Report abusive post
of course the media have a right to print matters that are of interest to the public, for Gods sake this is tax payers money.Shane Jones should do the honourable thing and resign.And so should a lot of others. The ammount is insignificant,is this not a case of legal theft as a servant ?? Ron
thetankengine said on 2010-06-11 @ 09:45 NZDT: Report abusive post
Ministers in this country are jokes, it doesn't matter whether they are nat or labour, they are equally disgusting and we seriously need to replace them all with new faces in our parliament or this country is doomed.