Claims about mother in poor taste, says MP

Chris Carter. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour MP Chris Carter has a watertight response to a claim he has used taxpayer funds to pay his mother's phone bill. She died 17 years ago.

Mr Carter has been at the centre of expenses controversies at Parliament because of large travel bills he notched up as a minister.

Blogger Cameron Slater on his Whaleoil website has been merciless in his portrayal of Mr Carter as a "trougher".

On a posting about the telephone allegation, Mr Slater portrays the Te Atatu MP with a pig's nose.

Referring to Mr Carter as "Koru Club", Mr Slater says the politician is "still suffering from the delusions of grandeur which occur with advanced sufferers of entitle-itis".

"Only just recently, in the last couple of months, has his mother had her phone, tolls and internet bills transferred from Telecom [the Parliamentary Service and Ministerial Services telecommunications contract holder] to her own account at Slingshot.

"Now with her good and loyal son not able to sup quite so often at the trough, she has had to move to having to pay for it herself."

Mr Carter said yesterday that his mother, Maureen, had died in 1993. Even after letting the blog site know that, it suggested he had funded someone else pretending to be his mother.

He said he found the allegations in poor taste. "I'm completely incredulous. Usually these things have a little germ of truth, but there just doesn't seem to be any basis for the story at all."