Heatley falls on his sword
Housing Minister Phil Heatley's resignation had an air of inevitability about it.
From the time he first discovered Fairfax was conducting an investigation into his ministerial credit card expenses Heatley looked like a man who knew he was heading for the political gallows.
He turned up in our offices that afternoon with a bunch of receipts and an explanation that didn't quite wash. We knew it, and he knew it, too. After that it was really only a matter of time.
The official line is that Heatley has discovered another discrepency in his accounts, to do with the billing of the two bottles of wine at the National Party conference in Christchurch in August. We already knew about those, and he'd already paid the money back.
The additional discrepency is the fact that his receipts show they were billed as "food and beverage - min and spouse'' when in fact it was only beverage.
Heatley's rationale is that he essentially signed an untrue statement, and this as a minister was a bridge too far, and he had no choice but to offer Prime Minister John Key his resignation.
I suspect there's more to it than this. My suspicion is that there are other charges that Heatley isn't sure about as well. Why else would he announce he was turning over his expenses to the Auditor-General?
Heatley's office will have been flooded with Official Information Act requests in the wake of the Fairfax story earlier this week, and every single last expense the minister has claimed will been scrutinised to the nth degree.
Given Heatley's admission that he preferred to take his family with him when he travelled, I suspect that some of those expenses won't pass muster.
I understand the PM and his deputy, Bill English, had a three-hour meeting last night, at least part of which was on this subject.
Key also had photocopies of Heatley's expenses ready to fax out to media this morning, which makes me suspect he'd been aware this was coming.
The only thing that puzzles me is why Key flew to Christchurch this morning for his day-long series of visits. His sudden cancellation after the first engagement is what tipped us off that something was very wrong.
I have no doubt Key had something to do with Heatley's decision to go. Ministers don't usually resign unless they are given a gentle nudge.
I don't think Heatley deliberately tried to mislead anyone, for the record. I think he genuinely didn't understand the rules, or the political consequences of breaking them. But that's still his responsibility, and proffering his resignation was the right course of action.
Key will be annoyed and embarrassed by this, but not overly concerned. Heatley was by all accounts a competent and hard-working minister, but there are others in National's ranks who will do an equally competent job.
My money's on Chris Tremain, the hard-working and capable Napier MP and chief whip to replace Heatley and take his housing portfolio. I'd leave fisheries with David Carter, since it's a good fit with agriculture.
The wider question that is still to be addressed is what this all means for ministers who want to involve their families in their business activities. They're going to have to be extremely careful from now on about separating out their expenses. It would be a pity, though, if ministers chose never to travel with their kids as a consequence.
One thing is clear, however. The exposure to daylight of ministerial and MPs' expenses has had a remarkable effect on our democracy. For the better, I believe.
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If key is to be consistant then surly English and brownlee have to go? Surly
Well said Colin, there is probably more to it than w2e know so far. But if Heatley made mistakes, he at least was man enough to man up. Wish all pollies were of the same ilk. We await with interest full expenses statements from all politicians. Note that there has been no statement from Phil Goff and Labour, me thinks thay will also be shown up as having made "mistakes". as for those who believe this just mud raking, I disagree, we deserve to know who have their "snoust in the trough", either deliberately or in error.
Mike #2
He wasn't sacked, he resigned and Key accepted....or don't you realise that people do resign when they have done wrong, being a Labour voter I guess that's something the left haven't seen in 9yrs!, it's called, shhh, I'll whisper it as it may be a shock to you lefties...'responsibility'....
"It would be a pity, though, if ministers chose never to travel with their kids as a consequence. One thing is clear, however. The exposure to daylight of ministerial and MPs' expenses has had a remarkable effect on our democracy. For the better, I believe."
It won't be better if MP's and ministers never travel with family/spouses. And seriously, worrying about a bottle of wine here and there and dinner for the wife on trips. Sounds like typical small poppy syndrome. No wonder New Zealand is going down on the OECD tables. Concentrating on rubbish like this, what’s the saying penny rich, dollar poor – sounds about right.
Colin can you please explain how this makes democracy better.
Why is it that when a minister is found to have been a tiny bit dodgy he resigns, but when Rortney Hide (a minister) is found rorting and rorting and rorting plane tickets and wedding trips and girlfriends he gets to keep his portfolio? Is it because his party's dog tucker and John Key wanted to throw him a bone? Double Dipton double standards, Gerry Brownlee's at lunch - he'll be with you shortly.
Sailor Sam #3 ". as for those who believe this just mud raking, I disagree, we deserve to know who have their "snoust in the trough", either deliberately or in error."
How about looking at ACC, the benefits system, the health system, the education system, and SOE's. Then you might actually find some serious numbers of snouts in the trough.
@ Mike, thank you so much!!! I am very confused in regards to this, and have even left a comment on the other article for someone to explain this to me if they could. (and yes I feel stupid!) To me Bill English's blunders in regards to the housing allowance etc was a higher scale of offending and dishonesty, I really am rather confused how he got John Keys support and managed to stay in his role, but yet Heatley felt he needed to resign and John Key accepted it.
I am not as dumb as I sound (i don't think) so if someone could explain this I really would be grateful. :)
If you listen closely you can hear the sound of Toryboys wetting their beds. Even their excuses are corrupt: "She did it first..." The National Party on display, and what a fine specimen it is.
RichardRight #1
"Heatley has done the honourable thing and fallen on his sword. Key has again proven himself as a fine leader."
Lol you're Laughable. If it hadn't surfaced in the media, Mr Heatley would still be spending your money on himself...
Do you have something against Helen Clark? Is it perhaps because she was and will continue to more successful than you'll ever be?
If that had been a Labour Minister who resigned would you be so compassionate?
BTW, do you know what party Winston was with when he came into Parliament? Yes, keep thinking...long and hard. Take your time.
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Heatley has done the honourable thing and fallen on his sword. Key has again proven himself as a fine leader.
This is a far cry to what we were used to under the mongrel labour party dictatorship of dear leader - she would simply lay them low for a short while before having them return to Cabinet, despite sacking them for very serious issues such as lying directly to the media, or drink driving.
And as for winston who took illegal donations, didn't declare the donation and lied to the Privileges Committee, dear leader and the mongrel labour party stuck by him till the end.