Cast-off curtains included in $275,000 refit of PM's residence

Photo / Steven McNicholl

The Governor-General's cast-off curtains were used in the recent revamp of Prime Minister John Key's Wellington home, Premier House.

Mr Key has come under fire from Labour MP Chris Hipkins for the $275,000 cost of repainting and recarpeting his 25-room official residence last year.

It has now emerged that at least part of the work was done on the cheap - the costs included $2860 for making curtains out of "existing fabric".

A spokesman for Ministerial Services confirmed yesterday that some of the drapes now in Premier House came from Government House.

Government House has just re-opened after a $44.7 million restoration.

A spokesman for Mr Key said the Prime Minister had no comment about the use of second-hand drapes.

Mr Hipkins laughed when he was told the curtains were the Governor-General's cast-offs. "What a dag. That's quite funny, actually. It's quite sensible, I guess, because they probably still have plenty of wear in them."'

Ministerial Services said it was likely the decision to use the curtains was driven by cost.

Its spokesman could not say which rooms the drapes were in or whether quotes for new curtains had been obtained before the decision was made to use the cast-offs.

An additional $3056 was spent on new blinds for some rooms in Premier House. The cost included a 15 per cent discount. The repaint cost $215,000, and $55,366 was spent on new carpet.

Mr Key has defended the need for the maintenance work, saying Premier House was a grade-one heritage building and had not been repainted in 11 years. He said he had refused a $400,000 revamp in 2009, but the carpet had already been stretched several times, and only downstairs was recarpeted - not his living quarters upstairs.

In his answers to Mr Hipkins, Mr Key said he had had no input into the refurbishment beyond being asked about the timing of the work and the colour scheme. He and his wife, Bronagh, had suggested a different colour scheme to that proposed.

Mr Hipkins mounted his attack on Mr Key over Premier House as part of a string of accusations that the Government was being extravagant while asking others to cut back.

It also focused on the cost of Mr Key's diplomatic protection squad guards and the decision to replace the 2008 fleet of Crown cars under the Government's contract with BMW.