Rodney Hide says sorry for trip

PERK BUSTED: Rodney Hide at a press conference today where he said he is sorry for using tax payers money to pay for travel for his partner.

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ACT leader Rodney Hide has apologised for using $10,000 of taxpayers' cash to send himself and his girlfriend on a holiday in Hawaii.

Mr Hide has also said it was wrong to take his girlfriend, Louise Crome, with him on an official fact-finding trip to Europe, Canada and the United States, also at taxpayers' expense.

He said he would pay back the $11,952 cost of taking Ms Crome with him on that trip, which was to study council mergers but coincided with the wedding of Crome's brother in the United Kingdom.

"I have shown poor judgement. For that I am very sorry," he said.

"I accept that I have failed to live up to the important principle that I have set, that politicians should always remember that they are spending taxpayers' money, and therefore must spend it carefully."

Mr Hide last week repaid the $10,000 for the Hawaii holiday, but did not make it public.

Mr Hide is MP for Epsom and minister of local government. He visited those countries to study local government structures.

Mr Hide made a name for himself as a "perkbuster" when he first came to Parliament, and he severely criticised the travel and other allowances MPs are entitled to.

He did not break the rules by claiming the fare discount for Ms Crome, but he said he had been wrong to do so.

"I am not proud of my casual use of taxpayers' money to take a holiday in Hawaii with my partner," he said.

"That was wrong. My decision to repay that money ($10,022) was easy when I took time to reflect on what I had done."

He said he had now decided to repay the cost of his partner's airfares for the trip to London, Canada and the United states.

"I will be providing Parliamentary services with a cheque for $11,952 in the morning."

Mr Hide extended his apology to include Prime Minister John Key.

He made disparaging remarks about Mr Key at a public meeting in Christchurch, saying the prime minister did not do much.

Mr Key brushed it off as light-hearted banter, but Mr Hide said today he had caused a distraction by making those remarks.

"I want to publicly apologise to John Key for distracting attention away from the important job his government has in lifting New Zealand's economic performance," he said.

"The prime minister has entrusted me with a big and important job. He is excellent to work with and I appreciate his very generous support - especially over the last two weeks."

Mr Hide said he was making two commitments to the public, his colleagues and supporters.

"I will never again use taxpayers' money for any overseas holidays.

- With NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News