Claire Trevett: Key returning taxpayers silver in comedy gold

Prime Minister John Key with his wife Bronagh during the All Blacks win against South Africa. Photo / Brett Phibbs

There is an old business adage that you have to spend money to make money. This has apparently been adopted as a political adage as well, although when it comes to the Rugby World Cup the wealth that flows back is in the currency of political capital rather than cold, hard cash.

So a trio of ministers have trotted off to London, each coming up with virtuous reasons for their travel to justify the taxpayer funding the trip.

In the case of Prime Minister John Key and Trade Minister Tim Groser, this is the noble cause of a free trade agreement with the European Union. For Sports Minister Jonathan Coleman there is a conference on sports doping and some health meetings with people with important-sounding job titles.

In each case, they issued a press release listing their various engagements and at the very end an apparent afterthought along the lines of "London mumble mumble All Blacks mumble mumble mumble".

Actually, Groser's only mentioned the London part of that with no mention of rugby. Fair enough, given Groser lives on a higher plane and probably doesn't give two hoots about the rugby beyond the added international recognition the All Blacks provide.

There's a long time between games so Key's programme includes chairing a meeting of Tories in Marrakech at the International Democratic Union (which is a slightly more dubious use of public funds than the Rugby World Cup). He will then move on to Brussels before embarking on the next chapter in his tour of royal residences for an audience with the Queen (the Queen doesn't do meetings) and a private dinner with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

His audience with the Queen just a few weeks before the first flag referendum rolls around could be interesting, although it could be argued the performance of the English rugby team and the fans' refrain of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" should be enough to end any question about whether the Union Jack still deserved its place on our flag.

Each knew the mumble mumble parts of their schedules would feature a lot higher in news stories than in their own press releases.

Given the international exposure, Key could argue he was justified in going to the game without all those extra meetings. But that wouldn't be in the spirit of things. It is a long way to go for a photo op that benefits Key politically but not necessarily the country. Nor does it help that newly minted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is not going.

The cost of the travel is petty cash really but petty cash has a power to bring politicians down that big-ticket items lack. Credit card returns are a barometer of that syndrome known as "entitle-itis" -- a way to assess whether the Third Term arrogance Key warned his ministers of (and sometimes falls victim to) has set in.

But when it comes to the Rugby World Cup, a politician would be a mug not to get in on the action. After all, this is a time when All Blacks are asked pressing questions about the flowers their hotel rooms are named after and there is analysis about whether a slightly pained look on Prince Harry's face showed he was an All Blacks supporter.

The Prime Minister does at least give back in entertainment value what he costs in coin. He even delivered the goods popping into the transit lounge at Twickenham for the semifinal on his way to Marrakech. The mirth prompted by Phil Walter's photo of John Key clutching a sponsor's beer with Sam Whitelock towering over him has already made it all worthwhile. As for the Prime Minister, he doesn't care if we're laughing at him or with him as long as we're laughing and he's in the frame.

There is an advantage in this for Labour leader Andrew Little. Little's press release for his trip to China and London mentioned his attendance at the Rugby World Cup in the headline rather than the small print. That was because of this one line: "Mr Little's travel from China to the UK and within the UK is personally funded". He had little choice - the Leader of the Opposition gets limited travel each Parliamentary term. But the payback for him in sanctimony is worth more than the price of flights. His only issue is whether the weight of that halo impedes his progress to the changing rooms afterward.