NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Politics

Fran O'Sullivan: Travel's not a perk, it's just part of the job

Fran O'Sullivan
By Fran O'Sullivan
Head of Business·NZ Herald·
6 May, 2011 05:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Judith Collins defends the $11,536 she has spent on petrol for her car over a two-year period. Photo / APN

Judith Collins defends the $11,536 she has spent on petrol for her car over a two-year period. Photo / APN

Fran O'Sullivan
Opinion by Fran O'Sullivan
Head of Business, NZME
Learn more

Judith Collins puts on this rather delightful lip curling act whenever she has to put impertinent reporters in their place.

Collins doesn't display quite the menace that former prime minister Helen Clark used to convey with her famous "death stare", but she is scary enough to freeze out those reporters
who have yet to grow tough hides of their own.

So it was entertainment central this week to watch The Crusher repeatedly refuse to indulge TV3's Patrick Gower by giving him full answers to questions over why she was "Parliament's biggest gas guzzler".

"Paddy," she intoned patiently, as if she was dealing with a small and rather dim child. "Paddy ... the use of my vehicle is within the rules."

And so it went - on and on.

In the annals of big-spending politicians, the Police Minister is hardly a standout performer.

The $11,536.96 Collins has spent filling her Mazda's tank is not outrageous. It does cover a two-year period, after all.

But coming on top of this week's other faux outrages - like the $60,000-plus the Foreign Minister spend commandeering an Airforce 757 to get to Vanuatu for another of those interminable Pacific meetings, the PM's helicopter trips and the $800,000 explosion in the PM's security detail costs - it helps to create an impression that the current bunch of Cabinet ministers rather like a gold-plated lifestyle.

There is an element of truth to this (most politicians do use their perks). It's also great entertainment. Most of us enjoy a bit of schadenfreude when we see the great and the good pulled down a peg or two.

But the Labour Party is on a hiding to nothing if it thinks that incessantly milking such mini-scandals is going to persuade New Zealanders to vote Key's Government out of office.

Typically, departing Labour MP Pete Hodgson was deputed to run the latest "scandal" involving the Prime Minister. Hodgson was in high dudgeon over the fact that Key even took his bodyguards with him to his holiday place in Maui.

The MP reckoned it was to make the PM feel more important.

But Collins points out that there have been threats against Key and one person currently faces charges on this score. No sane person is going to begrudge John Key the necessary protection that befits him and his office.

There is also a counter-case to be made for beefing up Cabinet ministers' travel arrangements.

It is unfathomable that the Prime Minister occasionally uses a lumbering Airforce 757 (which is mainly used for carrying troops) to trek offshore. The airforce planes are prone to breakdowns as happened in the recent McCully episode.

But it would surely make sense for the Government to buy a small jet for the Prime Minister to use when travelling offshore. This would make his travel arrangements more efficient and free up more time for him to run the Government.

In McCully's case, I suspect he has become increasingly miffed at having to undertake tortuous travel arrangements to keep pace with his very busy offshore diary. He is probably doubly miffed at arriving ragged and tired to front-up to yet another regional pow wow, only to see his Aussie counterpart arrive fresh off an Australian Government plane.

Buying a jet would not be an inordinate waste of Government money. It would simply be a recognition that this small faraway country is now involved in an increasing number of international relationships which have to be kept sweet if New Zealand is to prosper.

The days when the international dance card for a New Zealand prime minister (or foreign minster) was comprised of meetings at APEC, the Commonwealth Heads of Government and the occasional swing through to Europe are long gone. Those important meetings remain.

But the PM and his foreign and trade ministers also have to cover China, India, the Middle East, the Asean nations, Australia, the United States and much more as they try to cement political and trading relationships.

The McCully episode does expose a weakness in the PM's Cabinet arrangements. The Foreign Minister's rationale for using an airforce plane to get to Vanuatu, rather than flying commercially, was that he had to be back to New Zealand for the official visit by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Frankly, he shouldn't have gone.

The Vanuatu meeting could have been deputed to his associate minister or a Ministry of Foreign Affairs senior diplomat. The trouble is, McCully's associate minister happens to be Trade Minister Tim Groser, who also spends much, if not most, of his time offshore.

Another factor driving this increasing preoccupation with politicians' spending habits is the incessant and growing news media focus on the trivial. While this media fixation continues, Labour will continue to plumb the depths of absurdity. No winners here.

Discover more

New Zealand|education

Key blamed for protection squad cost blowout

05 May 05:30 PM
New Zealand|education

Threat made to John Key - minister

05 May 08:00 PM
New Zealand|politics

PM: DPS budget blow-out criticism 'pathetic'

06 May 12:55 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Politics

Business

Willis responds to OCR decision

Politics

ATMs used to ‘launder cash from drug sales’ to be banned

08 Jul 11:01 PM
New Zealand|politics

Herald Now Panel with Chlöe Swarbrick, Green Party Co-Leader, and Nicole McKee, ACT Party Minister

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Politics

Willis responds to OCR decision

Willis responds to OCR decision

The Reserve Bank has kept the Official Cash Rate at 3.25%, as expected. Video / Mark Mitchell

ATMs used to ‘launder cash from drug sales’ to be banned

ATMs used to ‘launder cash from drug sales’ to be banned

08 Jul 11:01 PM
Herald Now Panel with Chlöe Swarbrick, Green Party Co-Leader, and Nicole McKee, ACT Party Minister

Herald Now Panel with Chlöe Swarbrick, Green Party Co-Leader, and Nicole McKee, ACT Party Minister

Premium
'We don't know': Ministry can't show NZ's $81m problem gambling strategy works

'We don't know': Ministry can't show NZ's $81m problem gambling strategy works

08 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP