Navy chopper used to ferry minister's toothbrush

Conservation Minister Chris Carter called on a Royal New Zealand Navy helicopter to deliver a toothbrush he left after staying on the frigate Te Mana.

The helicopter flew from Te Mana, moored near Raoul Island, north of New Zealand, to the Department of Conservation huts where Carter was spending the night. He was visiting Raoul to commemorate Department of Conservation worker Mark Kearney, 33, killed in a volcanic eruption on March 17.

Navy officials have played down the Flight of the Toothbrush, assuring the Herald on Sunday Carter's toilet bag was carried on a scheduled flight between the frigate and the island. But it has caused concern among Opposition parties who have asked for an assurance the helicopter was being used for tasks other than the minister's dental hygiene.

The Navy was unable to detail what else the helicopter was carrying - or supply details of the mission.

A spokeswoman said it was part of the "resupply sorties" which included "transfer of DOC equipment from ship to island".

"During the course of the day he found he had left his toilet bag onboard Te Mana, so during the one of the flights (already scheduled) they brought it ashore for him."

Carter, "mystified" at the interest in his toilet bag, was unable to clarify matters.

A spokesman said: "All Chris can remember is that he asked if the Navy would mind bringing his gear over on one of the flights that were coming back and forth."

Act leader Rodney Hide said he wanted an assurance the toilet bag wasn't the only item carried on the helicopter.

"It'd be a shocker with Helen Clark having got rid of our strike wing that our Navy is reduced to flying around Chris Carter's toothbrush," he said.