State-owned Enterprises Minister Mark Burton was today accused of excusing taxpayer-funded extravagance as MPs continued to demand his resignation over the Transend spend-up.
ACT MP Rodney Hide said Mr Burton and NZ Post chief executive Elmar Toime should resign because they knew about the extravagance 18 months ago and nothing wasdone about it until March this year.
"These gentlemen and ladies flew around the world drinking and eating and staying in the most expensive hotels," Mr Hide said.
"The business didn't make money -- they spent it. Someone has to take responsibility for this and no one has.
"We can't have a situation where you can spend millions of dollars on an international party and it's no one's fault."
Mr Burton defended himself, saying action had been taken although "the pace was inadequate".
He said NZ Post thoroughly investigated the situation when anonymous allegations began to surface 18 months ago.
"The important thing is that all the issues were addressed by March this year," he said on National Radio.
National MP Murray McCully has also called for Mr Burton and Mr Toime to resign, saying they were warned about what was going on but did not act to stop it.
Mr Burton was today asked about Drew Stein, who was managing director of Transend during the period the excessive spending took place and retired for health reasons in March this year.
Mr Stein is still employed by NZ Post as a consultant at $80,000 a year.
Mr Burton said it was "a fair question" to ask why he was still on the payroll.
"He certainly has no management or board responsibility but that is certainly something I continue to ask the board," he said.
