Grey areas in ministerial spending

Clayton Cosgrove. Photo / Mark Mitchell

When Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove's luggage was lost on a ministerial trip to Guyana in 2007, he spent $708 on replacement clothes for himself and his staff.

But he neglected to buy many briefs and ended up attending official functions in "two-day-old chinos and underpants".

"I looked like a waiter, but I don't have an ego and I have never been fashion conscious, so it didn't worry me," Cosgrove said.

The table of selected ministers' spending compiled by Herald political staff includes personal spending repaid, purchases of note, and what has been repaid since records of ministerial spending were released last week.

The table shows that most ministers used their cards appropriately and when credit cards were used for personal items - which is explicitly against the rules - it was repaid quickly.

A number of items were not repaid - however, the release of the documents has brought a flurry of payments and promises to pay.

Perhaps Cosgrove should not have been so frugal, given that his staff had bought far more trivial items, including Listerine mouthwash.

The following year when he was in Montreal as Sports Minister, the limo-taxi that took Cosgrove across town for five hours cost more - $712 - than the replacement threads and mouthwash for his staff.

It would have cost much less, but again his luggage had been misplaced. The meter continued to run while Cosgrove was waiting for his bags, then filling out forms.

The car was then required for another hour while Cosgrove was driven to the hotel, and then downtown to buy new clothes.

But Cosgrove seemed to have learned from the previous year and, with travel insurance in mind, he spared no expense: $1568.99 on a suit, $56.78 on a shirt and socks, and $52.35 on a tie.

The documents record the car's purpose as "sightseeing", but Cosgrove said the car was used to drive from the airport to the hotel, and then from the hotel to two meetings and to the store to buy clothes.

The date of the trip is recorded by Ministerial Services as several days after buying the clothes, and Cosgrove is not the first to point out apparent mistakes in the records.

Ministerial Services has no record of a massage for former Conservation Minister Chris Carter's staffer in China, but the staffer has assured Carter that it was paid, twice, in cash. Carter still included it in the $251 he repaid last week because the documents had no record of the reimbursement.

Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton is also positive he repaid $620 for a massage for him and his wife in Malaysia, but Ministerial Services also has no record of that.

Anderton is among a handful of former ministers who challenged the clarity of the rules; Department of Internal Affairs chief executive Brendan Boyle has said it was very clear personal spending was not allowed - regardless of whether it was repaid later - except in emergencies.

But Anderton and Labour MPs Mita Ririnui and Damien O'Connor have said there was an understanding it was acceptable to use their taxpayer-funded credit cards and reimburse them later, especially while overseas on ministerial business.

Ririnui and O'Connor in particular, along with shamed Labour MP Shane Jones, used their card for personal spending, later repaying it. Parekura Horomia did as well, but mainly for dinners or the alcohol part of the dinner bill.

O'Connor said his personal credit card was temperamental at the time, and it is noted on at least two occasions in his records that he used his ministerial card because his personal one wasn't working.

Other personal expenditure was charged to office cards, but Ministerial Services - not ministers - have responsibility for that spending.

Two movies were charged to the office of former Courts Minister Rick Barker, for example, but Barker insists he did not watch any movies, nor did he know about them until the records came out.

A staffer in Trade Minister Tim Groser's office also enjoyed a flick last year on the taxpayer. And former Trade Minister Jim Sutton had no memory of a $142 massage a staffer of his had while in China in 2005.

Ministerial Services has said it will take some time to produce figures for the overall amount of spending by each minister and their staff.

However, the Herald has tallied up the sums on card statements for a handful of ministers and their staff.

Carter and his staff racked up about $124,000 of spending in the five years from 2004 to 2008 with the biggest total in 2006 when he spent $37,000. Foreign Affairs ministers and their staff can be expected to run up big bills and Winston Peters' staff were no exception, spending $116,000 during 2006.

Current Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and his staff spent $96,000 last year.

Trade ministers are also big spenders with Groser and staff spending $103,000 last year. Sutton and his staff's biggest year was 2003 when they spent $60,000.

Some ministers put almost all the expenditure on office credit cards, including former Defence and Tourism Minister Mark Burton.

His office bought plenty of office supplies, including a $400 stereo, kitchen supplies and a "funky orange X-Sport" cellphone cover - all within the rules which authorise items classed as "operational resources".

Examples of these include entertaining officials in their ministerial capacity, gifts and wrapping, luggage for ministerial use - Margaret Wilson's office bought two suitcases for $599 - cellphone equipment and staff farewell functions.

Police Minister Judith Collins' blender falls into the kitchen supplies category, as did Burton's crockery.

Examples of what is not allowed include groceries, everyday meals, or alcohol unless it relates to a portfolio or ministerial function.

The Prime Minister has already endorsed his ministers having the odd drink from the minibar after a day's work, so while former minister Dover Samuels tended to repay all his alcohol bills, Groser racks up modest alcohol bills as he moves from hotel to hotel.

Key has also defended large overseas bills, particularly those incurred in the trade and foreign affairs portfolios, when delegations and entertainment costs can be large and ministers tend to stay in expensive hotels.

The rules may be tightened soon - a report from Auditor-General Lyn Provost into the spending rules is expected shortly.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: ADAM BENNETT

Guidelines set out the goods and services that can be paid for on ministerial credit cards as "operational resources". They include:

* Entertainment of visitors, staff and officials in their ministerial portfolio capacity.
* Koha, ministerial gifts and wrapping.
* Flowers including wreaths.
* Luggage for ministerial use.
* Office supplies.
* Catering supplies for ministerial functions.
* Office farewell functions.
* Up to $30 a head on office staff Christmas parties.

The guidelines specifically exclude:

* Groceries for personal use.
* Everyday meals and those with family members.
* Gifts for staff.
* Dry cleaning except when travelling on official business.
* Alcohol unless it relates to a portfolio or ministerial function.
* Cabinet morning tea and lunch.
* Wine for wine auctions.

The guidelines are open to interpretation against principles, including that expenditure:

* Must be reasonable for the circumstances and able to withstand tax payers scrutiny".
* Must be properly documented and supported with tax invoices and receipts.
* Wherever practicable the spending must be "the most cost effective alternative available for utilising or accessing a particular entitlement."