Editorial: Dent-by-ding scrutiny of cars misses target

Bob McMillan. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Now is a good time to care about the spending of public money on or by parliamentarians.

In the twilight zone of austerity, the public needs to know its political leadership is practising what it preaches.

While the media love to expose excess, scrutiny can verge on absurdity when focused on trivialities.

This week 3News, normally adept at targeting scandal, spent two excruciating nights analysing the costs, car by car, minister by minister, of repairing paint and bodywork on ministerial self-drive vehicles.

Some of the cars had to be touched up in more than a dozen places - a ding here, a key scratch or a stone chip there and a supermarket-carpark mark somewhere else.

It proved nothing, really. Any corporate leased car driven by an averagely careful driver would incur similar or higher costs to be restored to the expected standard.

The Great Panel Scratch Scandal of 2011 was amusing enough, with its whizzing vehicle graphics and dramatic, multi-hundred dollar costs. But in terms of keeping politicians honest, it risked crying wolf.

An agency which did see the big picture was the Remuneration Authority which yesterday decided to delay, until at least July, considering a pay rise for MPs to compensate for the loss of international travel perks.

Given that July is just four months before the election, it can be assumed no announcement will be made until December at the earliest. The authority declared: "It would be inappropriate to increase base salary at this time." Indeed.