Housing and Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley has resigned his portfolios after further spending discrepancies on his Ministerial credit card were made public.The announcement brings to two the number of ministerial casualties from John Key's cabinet.
Housing and Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley has resigned his portfolios after further spending discrepancies on his Ministerial credit card were made public.
The announcement brings to two the number of ministerial casualties from John Key's cabinet. Maurice Williamson will take over the housing portfolio with David Carter picking up fisheries.
"It tipped it over the edge for me."
Mr Heatley was not surprised Prime Minister John Key accepted the resignation, which he tendered this morning.
"I wanted him to accept it because I meant it. I want to resign, I haven't lived up to my own standards."
Mr Key said he had accepted his minister's resignation "with regret".
“Mr Heatley tendered his resignation to me this morning and I will be advising the Governor-General to accept it,” Mr Key said. “Mr Heatley has also asked that the Auditor-General conduct an audit into his ministerial expenses.
Key's officials have been working with the Audit Office since yesterday when this latest misspending issue arose and Mr Key said the investigation would start this afternoon. The purpose of the audit is to confirm the appropriateness of the expenses claimed by Mr Heatley against Vote Ministerial Services.
“It came to my attention yesterday that the documentation used to support Mr Heatley’s expenses claim for $70 in Christchurch last year was incorrect," Mr Key said.
“The expenses claim characterised the spending as “Minister and Spouse: dinner”. The actual credit card receipt was notated by him as ‘Minister and Spouse’ for ‘Food and Beverage’. “The credit card was used for two bottles of wine for his and his wife’s table at the National Party Conference."
Mr Key said he had asked Mr Heatley to explain the inconsistency and was told it was an unintentional error and that Mr Heatley "had not sought to mislead Ministerial Services".
“However, he feels that he has not lived up to the high standards required of a Minister and has resigned his portfolios. I expect high standards from my Ministers, but I’m also prepared to accept that everyone is human and from time to time, people make mistakes," the Prime Minister said.
Mr Heatley would remain in Parliament as MP for Whangarei, which he has represented since 1999.
"I think I need to spend a long time on the backbenches," he told reporters this morning.
Mr Heatley this week paid back over $1000 worth of illegitimate spending, the bulk of which involved a taxpayer-funded trip by him and his family to the South Island, where he visited Kaikoura's Whale Watch and attended a conference in Christchurch.
He made a public apology after the spending discrepancies, including wine and food he bought at a National Party conference last year, was outlined by media.
Mr Heatley has also been under fire in the past for his accommodation allowances.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee also apologised this week and repaid $151.90 spent outside the rules in September for a lunch with his electorate staff.
Richard Worth was the first Government Minister to resign after the election over inappropriate behaviour.
