Housing Minister Resigns

Do you remember our post "Allegations of bribery at Housing New Zealand?" on 11 February ?(click here to read it) It ended with the comment "Stand by to see what else comes out of the woodwork over the next few days."

Exactly 2 weeks later the Housing Minister, Phil Heatley,  has announced his resignation which was "accepted with regret" by Prime Minister John Key. And the reason for his departure? his ministerial credit card expenses and not being "as familiar with the rules" as he should be. See his statement here  in which he said:

"I charged two bottles of wine already highlighted this week to my account as food and beverages. There was no food included in this purchase, and I accept this could be viewed as an inaccurate representation of the expense."

Two bottles of wine, that was a bit sloppy perhaps but was it really worth resigning over? to err is human after all and to forgive is divine. Even Mr Key has made some slip-ups in recent weeks, look how easy it was for him to forget about owning those mining company shares. See "'Sloppy' Key to sell uranium shares"(source)

"New Zealand's Prime Minister, John Key, has admitted to being "sloppy" after it was revealed he owns shares in an Australian mining company which has uranium interests.

New Zealand has had an anti-nuclear stance for the past 25 years and is passionately anti-nuclear.

In 2001 Mr Key bought about 1 million shares worth $NZ200,000 ($157,382) in a small Australian gold exploration business called Jackson Minerals.

Last year it merged with a uranium mining company called Scimitar Resources to form Cauldron Energy, which has a number of uranium exploration projects.

Mr Key admits he should have got rid of the shares.

"It's a small technical issue. I've been busy running the country," he said.

"I'm the first to admit it was a bit sloppy."

Mr Key says the shares are now worth very little and when he offered them to his 12-year-old son, even his son did not want them.

Mr Key now plans to sell them."

See also: "Key to sell uranium mining shares" - "Prime Minister John Key says he will sell his shares in a mining company that has extensive interests in uranium mining. Mr Key was confronted about the shareholding on TVNZ's Q+A programme in the context of his Government's policy to open more conservation land to mining."

Mr Heatley's resignation statement went on to add:

"I have absolutely no desire to become the focus of a distraction for this Government, which has much to do to grow the economy, invest in jobs and help Kiwis get ahead."

Will the NZ public buy it? watch this space.


Today's posts - click here

Allegations Of Bribery At Housing New Zealand?

Back in November we talked about how New Zealand had a higher rate of economic crime than its near neighbours, way above the world average: a massive 42% of businesses in New Zealand had suffered economic fraud in the previous 12 months against a global average of 30%.

Now it's emerging that the country may have problems with bribery within one of its government institutions. Readers will already know of (Ex) MP Phillip Field found guilty of bribery and corruption. The former immigration boss Mary Anne Field who "consistently breached" the requirements of public servants to manage conflicts of interest. They may also remember Former list MP Donna Awatere Huata who was convicted of fraud.


Voxy first hosted a HNZ press release yesterday that carefully avoided the "B" word:

Investigation Of An Allegation Of Improper Practice Underway

"Housing New Zealand is investigating an allegation a staff member has been offering applicants for state houses preferential treatment, in return for money, Chief Executive Dr Lesley McTurk said today.

"I can reassure everyone this situation is being thoroughly investigated. Immediate employment action has been taken," Dr McTurk said. "Once our investigation is complete, it will be possible to make a decision whether it is appropriate to bring the matter to the attention of the Police....."

Today the Herald is running a story saying that it may not be just a single employee that's involved and, in an article that mentioned the dreaded "B" word five times, said:

HNZ bribe claim not first allegation - tenant advocate

"Allegations that a Housing New Zealand (HNZ) staff member has been taking bribes is not the first claim of its kind, says a tenant advocate. Piripi Gray said he welcomed the investigation and had previously heard of other allegations of bribery at HNZ.

He said tenants were vulnerable and felt intimidated by HNZ staff.
"But if they come forward than people can really see what is happening inside Housing New Zealand," Mr Gray said. He said tenants had complained to him in the past that application forms were not being processed and that HNZ staff were asking for goods such as stereos."

Stereos?! well at least they won't show up on the bank statements. The Herald closed with:

"New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services secretary Raewyn Fox said many of her clients were also clients of Housing New Zealand but she had never heard of bribery.
"I have heard mumbles about the waiting lists though," Ms Fox said. "Even the suggestion that something like this has happened will damage their confidence," she said.

Housing Minister Phil Heatley praised HNZ for its "swift action".
"Prospective Housing New Zealand tenants and the wider public must have confidence in the probity of the state house system. I'm confident all necessary steps are being taken to ensure that is the case," Mr Heatley said.

Mr Heatley said anyone with complaints about HNZ could call the authority's complaints line in "absolute confidence" on 0800 801 601."

Absolute confidence?

A typical call may go something like this "Oh yes, a while ago I gave this chick at HNZ my stereo so she wouldn't 'lose' my paperwork again. You're not going to take my home off me are you?" How many calls do you think HNZ is going to get from tenants who already feel "vulnerable" and "intimidated"?

We have a feeling that this one will run and run but we don't think that HNZ's complaint's line is going to be red hot.

Stand by to see what else comes out of the woodwork over the next few days.