Prime Minister Asks Tourism Board To Say What It Is Doing About Recovering Money

Prime Minister Jenny Shipley wrote to the Tourism Board today asking it to tell her by the end of the week what steps it is taking to try to recover exit payments made to two former members.

The payments to two former directors were discussed by Cabinet today after the Government received initial advice from Solicitor General John McGrath on last week's Audit Office report.

Mr McGrath's advice did not at this stage include a firm ruling on the lawfulness of the payments, which could be the subject of legal argument.

However, he recommended that recovery of the payments must first be addressed by the Tourism Board.

Mrs Shipley said he recommended that anyone in public office should act on the findings of the Auditor General unless there were serious doubts.

Mrs Shipley said she would take into account the Tourism Board's intentions before deciding if there were other steps the Government could or should take.