English asks for taxpayer-funded house cleaning

Finance Minister Bill English appears to have asked for a further $20 a week of taxpayer-funded cleaning at his $1.2 million Karori house after he had it declared a ministerial residence.

An email issued under the Official Information Act, with the sender's name deleted, asks: "Because this is a large house comparable to Bolton St in size, could I please be accorded 3 hours cleaning instead of 2?"

The Englishes turned down a chance to stay in the Crown-owned Bolton St house, now occupied by Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee.

The request for more cleaning is included in a December 5 email giving details of existing power suppliers, which were to change once Ministerial Services started picking up the tab. The wording suggests someone close to Mr English wrote it.

On the same day, Mr English warned that the Government's books would get worse before they got better, but that "the National-led Government is bringing responsibility back to fiscal policy".

Other correspondence released to The Dominion Post shows that an invoice claiming $300 for cleaning was knocked back because it was above the claimable amount.

- © Fairfax NZ News