'I'm sorry' - Hide

Act leader and Local Government Minister Rodney Hide makes his apology in Wellington yesterday. Photo / NZPA

The penitent enters his office, head bowed and without the usual greetings, as the cameras and notebooks silently wait.

Then Rodney Hide delivers an apology near perfect for its lack of qualification and attempts to lay blame elsewhere.

Prompting his appearance is a series of news headlines focusing on the "former perkbuster" and his taxpayer-financed travels with his partner to Europe, mainland United States and Hawaii.

So yesterday, after a week of defending himself, he spoke slowly of his shame at his "casual use" of taxpayers' money to holiday in Hawaii and take his partner, Louise Crome, on a ministerial trip to Britain and the US.

"That was wrong."

He said that today, a cheque would be delivered to the taxpayer, paying back $11,952 for that second trip on top of the $10,000 he had already repaid for the Hawaiian holiday.

He pledged not to use his travel perk on international travel again, saying he would pay Ms Crome's costs himself if he took her on official travel or on holiday.

He laid the blame at his own door, saying he had been blinded by the "challenge, the hard work and the excitement" of his ministerial job, and had lost sight of his awareness that every dollar the Government spent came out of the pocket of a New Zealander.

He had somehow come to believe that what he had done was in the rules, so it was allowed. He was proud of the work he had done as a minister. He was not so proud of his recent behaviour.

There was a special message for his Epsom constituents.

"I promised I would make them proud of me as their MP. I have let them down. I have made mistakes, I have shown poor judgment. For that I am sorry."

He had initially thought he could justify putting Ms Crome's costs on the taxpayer's tab for his business trip to Britain, where the pair also attended her brother's wedding.

"On reflecting on it, I realised I was totally wrong. I did need my partner to go on the trip, but I accept now that need was for me - not for the taxpayer."

He seemed surprised it had taken so long for him to see it, saying that as soon as the furore had died down and he had stopped defending himself, he had realised he never should have done so in the first place.

He was asked if his new vow never to take a holiday on the taxpayer made him a "martyr", as he had claimed when trying to justify why he was using a perk he had once opposed so strongly.

"Not a martyr," he said. "It makes me a person who recognised I was wrong. It's a hard thing for anyone to admit they stuffed up. It's particularly hard for politicians.

"So what it makes me is a person who stuffed up and fell short, and I'm accepting responsibility for that and putting it right as much as I can."

He did not try to pull others down with him. He had chosen to put himself up there as the perkbuster - other MPs had not taken the same stand, so they should not expect to be held to the same standard.

Yesterday morning, Prime Minister John Key labelled Mr Hide an "A-type personality" as he explained why he had brushed off the minister's claim to an audience last week that he (the PM) had done nothing, and had no ideas beyond building a cycleway.

In the afternoon, an abject Mr Hide also apologised to Mr Key for those comments, saying he had distracted attention away from "the important job his Government has in lifting New Zealand's economic performance".

He said the Prime Minister had entrusted him with an important job and had given "very generous support, especially over the last two weeks".

Mr Hide said he needed to mend bridges, not only with Mr Key but also with his own principles and values. And he hoped he would not always be judged by his slips.

"I always try to learn from something. And I have to tell you, I've learned a lot about myself."

* What he's repaid

Cost of flights to Hawaii:
$10,022.40.

Cost of partner's flights to United Kingdom, America and Canada:
$11,952.

Total bill:
$21,974.40