To say this wasn't the best week in Rodney Hide's political life would be an ever-so-slight understatement. The MP for Epsom/ACT Party leader, self-proclaimed 'perkbuster' of the NZ Parliament for several loud and vocal years, has been revealed (and reviled) as nothing more than a perk pilferer himself!
Hide took his girlfriend on a global jaunt on the taxpayer (“Politicial life is very trying – I couldn't be away from her support for two weeks.” Yea, right!) and curiously, the trip coincided with her brother's wedding in Britain.
Then he was overheard bagging the Prime Minister as a "do-nothing". John Armstrong's Herald article wraps the whole thing up nicely...well, that is until the next revelation rolls out. And waddya know: here it is! Now we discover Rodders took girlie on a $10,000 mid-winter tropical break in Hawaii, also taxpayer-funded!Hide is surely approaching the thin ice, perhaps relying on the safety net of his party's links with the National-led coalition govt. I recall Rodney's 2007 book, My Year Of Living Dangerously - all in all, a rather prophetic title!
PS: 08 Nov.2009 - Rodney apologises to the public, to Parliament and to his electorate, promising to repay all taxpayer money. But is this enough? Should MPs caught with snouts in the trough be able to simply walk away this easily?
PS: 10 Dec.2009 - More details have emerged about how much/little time Rodders actually spent on official business while happily spending our money on his overseas trip!
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