10 Aug 2020

No evidence of inappropriate spending by Lees-Galloway - Ministerial Services

4:42 pm on 10 August 2020

A Ministerial Services inquiry has found no evidence of inappropriate spending by former government minister Iain Lees-Galloway.

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Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas

A report on the ministerial expenditure of former cabinet minister Iain Lees-Galloway has found no evidence of inappropriate transactions or spending.

The Palmerston North MP was stripped of his portfolios - including Workplace Relations and Immigration - for having an affair with a former staffer.

He is not seeking re-election next month.

Ministerial Services reviewed all his expenditure, including staff and spouse expenses, from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she commissioned the review "to ensure taxpayer money was not inappropriately used in the course of his relationship, and the report has found none was".

"Following this report, but also Iain Lees-Galloway's exit from Parliament, I consider the matter now closed," Ardern says.

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