The Taxpayers’ Union
is calling BS on claims that
inappropriate spending of parliamentary funds by MP Harete
Hipango was the result of a “coding
error”.
Union spokesperson Jordan
Williams says, “A number of our staff used to work at
Parliament and would code expenses for MPs. To put it
politely, they say it is ‘implausible’ for Ms Hipango
not to know exactly what she was doing.”
"It simply
doesn’t ring true that a taxpayer funded television and
sofa, which ended up in the home of an MP, were wrongly
coded.”
“All transactions and the way in which
they are coded need to be approved and signed off by the MP
themselves. There is no accidental way to code a
parliamentary expense to your own personal living
room.”
“Taxpayers deserve to know how their money
is being spent which is why MPs offices should be subject to
the same transparency obligations as every other
Ministers’ office. We are today writing to the Speaker,
calling on him to release all information in relation to
Harete Hipango’s spending and whether she fronted up, or
only paid the money back after being told
to.”
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