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Maori Party MP Hone Harawira has been ordered to pay back half of the cost of his taxpayer-funded airfare to Australia after he went walkabout while on an official parliamentary visit.
Speaker Margaret Wilson told MPs that Mr Harawira's "private visit" to the Northern Territory to see aboriginal
communities had come halfway into a select committee visit to Melbourne.
MPs had an obligation to complete their work for which they received public funding, she said.
"As Mr Harawira participated in less than half of the committee's business I consider it appropriate that he refund half of the airfare that has been paid out of public funds," Ms Wilson said.
It has been estimated that the MPs' airfares cost $3000 for a business class return flight.
Mr Harawira tried to table a report on his trip to Alice Springs in Parliament this afternoon but leave was refused.
Mr Harawira has rejected criticism of his controversial trip saying he was glad he did it.
"If I hadn't pushed this it wouldn't be on New Zealand television, it wouldn't even be on Australian television."
The Maori Party MP went to Melbourne with other members of Parliament's justice and electoral select committee on the taxpayer-funded trip to study the state's laws, but two days into the four-day visit he took off on his own.
He went to visit Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, where the Australian government is sending soldiers and police to deal with child abuse and alcohol problems.
Mr Harawira has been criticised in Parliament, other Maori MPs saying he should deal with problems at home instead of "making a fuss" in another country.
That angered Mr Harawira who said he was not going to listen "to that kind of crap".
Mr Harawira last month described Australian Prime Minister John Howard as "a racist bastard" for deciding to use the military to deal with problems in the communities. He has stood by his remark.
Ms Wilson's ruling today sparked a number of exchanges between MPs with Mr Harawira's co-leader Pita Sharples having a go at his MP's critics over incidents in the past.
This included National MP Richard Worth going for a camel ride, when he was on an official trip and also the travels of MPs in the parliamentary rugby team.
"Has the same due diligence applied (to them)?" Mr Sharples asked.
Ms Wilson said her ruling related to trips by select committees as they came under her jurisdiction.
New Zealand First MP Ron Mark first complained to the Speaker about Mr Harawira's excursion and ACT Leader Rodney Hide said the money owed by Mr Harawira paled into significance to that owed by Mr Mark's party.
NZ First is yet to pay back parliamentary funding that the Auditor-General ruled had been spent illegally on election campaign funding.
Ms Wilson said Mr Hide's comments were not relevant.
- NZPA
