Former Rotorua man Leith Comer, Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, has reimbursed the organisation $1806 for travel costs incurred by his wife in 2011.
The events travelled to were Opera in the Pa, Style Pasifika and the M?ori Sports Awards.
State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie had questioned the expenses. Mr Comer, who was the former chairman of Lakeland Health (now Lakes District Health Board) and founding member of the Rotorua District Council's Te Arawa Standing Committee, is now Te Puni Kokiri's chief executive. His office yesterday released a statement in which he said he would reimburse the money.
"The chief executive says while he believes there was justification for the travel to be paid for by TPK at the time, he now accepts that it was not good use of taxpayer funding and rather than go through a protracted debate on the matter. he will reimburse the amount involved."
Te Puni Kokiri this afternoon released a statement saying the money had been repaid
Records show $416 was spent on return airfares from Wellington for Mr Comer's wife so she could join him in Auckland during the closing stages of the Rugby World Cup in late October and attend a Style Pasifika event sponsored by the department.
A month later, $598 was spent on air travel allowing Mr Comer's wife to attend the Maori Sports Awards in Auckland, another Te Puni Kokiri-sponsored event.
While Mr Comer earlier yesterday defended the flights for his wife as an "appropriate" use of funds, State Services Minister Jonathan Coleman questioned that, given the financial pressures on Te Puni Kokiri and other government agencies.
Te Puni Kokiri is reportedly considering 50 redundancies as it grapples with a $5 million shortfall in funding.
Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples said that in the Maori world it was expected hosts' spouses would attend formal events. However, who should pay for spouses to be present at such events was "the big question".
