24 Jul 2014

PM under pressure over Hauiti

8:30 am on 24 July 2014

The Prime Minister is coming under increasing pressure to disclose how much taxpayers' money errant list MP Claudette Hauiti misspent, but John Key says he does not know.

Claudette Hauiti.

Claudette Hauiti. Photo: NATIONAL PARTY

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Mr Key must know, and the money involved is much greater than the $200 that has been made public.

Claudette Hauiti has announced she will not stand for re-election on 20 September, after she was forced to admit she had misused her parliamentary credit card on a trip to Australia.

Mr Peters said on Wednesday the matter is more serious than has been made public so far, and that Mr Key knows more than he says.

But the Prime Minister says he does not, and rejects suggestions that Ms Hauiti is getting away with it. He told reporters he has not asked how much money is involved.

"That's actually not a matter for me.That's a matter for Parliamentary Services and her. She made it quite to me that she was standing down from Parliament and that was on the back of the advice she'd had from the party, which took a pretty dim view to her making a mistake."

Mr Key rejected suggestions Ms Hauiti is getting away with it because she is losing her job as an MP.

Ms Hauiti is continuing her silence over how much money was involved or whether she had s paid it back.

Parliamentary records show the MP spent about $22,000 on travel and accommodation from January to March this year. That's about $8000 more than other National Party list MPs based in Auckland.