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Former Government minister Phillida Bunkle has been charged with theft after allegedly shoplifting a bottle of wine and two packets of coffee from a supermarket.
It is alleged Bunkle, when apprehended, had a bottle of wine worth $15.20 and two packets of coffee each worth $7.19 in her bag, when trying to leave in Paraparaumu's Pak'n Save supermarket on October 16.
The former Alliance MP was believed to have had about $200 cash with her.
She was believed to have paid for a bag of confectionery and nuts and was caught when she walked out of the supermarket with the wine and coffee in her bag.
The supermarket said a middle-aged woman was apprehended for shoplifting that day, but provided no other details.
Bunkle appeared in Porirua District Court on October 23. Her name is on the court list for next week but Bunkle is in Britain and not expected back before Christmas.
She resigned from ministerial positions in 2001 following investigations that she claimed out-of-town allowances while enrolled on the Wellington Central electoral roll.
Bunkle, an Alliance minister outside Cabinet, never regained her job.
She entered Parliament in 1999 and became minister for consumer affairs and associate minister for economic development.
Though cleared by an inquiry, she was not reinstated as a minister and was relegated to the backbenches.
- NZPA
