25 February 2005

New Zealand Lotteries Commission Accepts It Inadvertently Misinformed Minister About Charles Chauvel's Travel Costs

The New Zealand Lotteries Commission accepts that it inadvertently provided incomplete information to the Minister of Internal Affairs about travel costs associated with a Commission member, Head of Communications, Helen Morgan-Banda said today.

Mrs Morgan-Banda said that when the Commission submitted a draft answer in response to Parliamentary Question 9065, asked on 3 September 2003 by the Hon Tony Ryall, the information was not complete.

"We provided information from our accounting records about the cost of the travel of one of our Commission members for two trips he took to Europe in 2003. Although the information was correct at the time, it was incomplete.

"The costs we gave for the second trip were at that time incomplete by a total of $5,872. Mr Chauvel had advised the Board in July 2003 of his intention to submit further travel expenses for this trip. We should have indicated to the Minister at that time we were anticipating further claims.

"The claims were subsequently processed and the correct costs were supplied on 21 January in response to questions from the National Business Review.

"We should also have informed the Minister's office when the complete information was available after Mr Chauvel's travel expense were processed.

"We sincerely apologise for this error and any confusion this situation has caused," says Mrs Morgan-Banda.

ENDS

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