Cabinet fuming at Hide's jibes

Under fire: Rodney Hide and Hone Harawira, below.

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Senior ministers are privately seething over Act leader Rodney Hide's disparaging brickbat that they are "half-asleep" at cabinet meetings.

Hide is under assault on all fronts – voters, the media and now his government colleagues – after one of his worst weeks in politics.

Hide's horror seven days has been entirely self-inflicted. First he was publicly exposed as a hypocrite for taking advantage of a perk he once campaigned strongly to abolish: taking his girlfriend, Louise Crome, on a round-the-world trip, visiting London, Toronto, Portland and Los Angeles. He defended it on the grounds that he did not spend as much time as he would like with Crome and that he had to work with the system, even though he disagreed with it.

Hide first said the real cost to taxpayers for taking Crome was about $5000 when in fact it cost $12,000. It was then revealed that what was supposed to be an official "fact-finding trip" for the Auckland super city appeared to be arranged to coincide with the London wedding of Crome's brother. The couple also visited a Californian theme park.

Yesterday it got more embarrassing for Hide when it was revealed he also used the 90% discount for international travel that MPs receive for their partners – the perk he has said was offensive to ordinary Kiwis trying to save for a holiday – to take Crome to Hawaii for a holiday in July. He then tried to repay the $10,000 cost to taxpayers on the quiet.

Earlier last week Hide put his foot in his mouth by publicly criticising Prime Minister John Key and his ministers at an Act fundraiser in Christchurch, not knowing a journalist was in earshot. Senior ministers were not impressed. Despite Key putting on a "sunny face" in public, other members of his cabinet are livid at Hide's gaffe where he let slip in front of supporters – and the journalist – that Key had done nothing except promote a national cycleway.

But it was Hide's shameless boast that he could get any policy through cabinet because "they are too busy with their own stuff [so] they're not bothered" which has upset senior ministers. They did not believe Hide could be "so stupid". He was either so naive he did not think his comments would be a problem or so arrogant he believed he could exaggerate Act's influence in cabinet to shore up support for his party. Hide is not officially a cabinet minister, although he does attend meetings that relate to his portfolio. He is, however, a member of cabinet's expenditure review committee, a position he demanded as part of the coalition agreement with Key because he wanted to ensure taxpayers' money was spent wisely.

Hide was quick to apologise to Key but a senior government source said he had lost respect and might find it harder to get things done. "Key is not as relaxed as you might think. [Hide] has made it look like ministers are half-asleep." Another said: "I don't know what it is that [Hide] thinks he's slipped through."

Hide told the Sunday Star-Times last week taking his girlfriend to England, Canada and the US cost $4000-$5000, but when pressed Hide's spokeswoman admitted the actual cost was $11,952.

The spokeswoman insisted Hide had not deliberately misled – he was simply not aware of the "full cost" last week. Hide had complained that other media were overblowing the cost of taking his partner, quoting $25,000, when this represented the total cost of three months' travel, including domestic flights.

Hide was ducking for cover yesterday; as was Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, who is facing disciplinary action after dropping out of an official parliamentary delegation in Brussels to take his wife Hilda to Paris for a day's sightseeing. Harawira made matters worse by resorting to his trademark inflammatory language when someone questioned his integrity.

Buddy Mikaere, a historian and consultant on Maori affairs, suggested in an email to Harawira that he was "no better than that wanker Rodney Hide and the white mofos you complain about".

In reply, Harawira said: "White motherf-----s have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries, and all of a sudden you want me to play along with their puritanical bullshit."

Harawira and Maori Party president Whatarangi Winiata were unavailable yesterday, but in a statement on Friday Winiata said the party was "very concerned" about Harawira's behaviour and the email, believing they were "serious breaches of the kaupapa and tikanga of the party".