Mr Moore’s travel costs criticised

Press, 22 October 1986, Page 9

Mr Moore’s travel costs criticised

PA Wellington The Opposition last evening claimed foreign travel by the Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing, Mr Moore, had cost more than $1 million while trade with many countries he had visited had subsequently declined. The attack came just days before the Minister will leave New Zealand to head a three-week trade mission to Latin America. A former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, dubbed Mr Moore the “Minister of Overseas Trips” and said trade with most of the countries the Minister had visited had subsequently declined. Mr Moore had displayed much enthusiasm for overseas travel, “not

to sell anything but for travel and for talking,” Sir Robert said during debate on overseas trade estimates in Parliament. He queried the cost of the trips, including the expense of accompanying officials and using Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft. “It is well over a $1 million and we simply haven’t had value for it,” Sir Robert said. Mr Moore said the trips were valued by how many business people were prepared to pay. If there were not enough, they did not go ahead. He was interrupted by Sir Robert who interjected that the trips were taxdeductible to the business people. “They are having a ball.” The Deputy Minister of

Overseas Trade, Mr O’Flynn, called Mr Moore a “modern Marco Polo” but said the cost of his travel was largely recovered from business people who went with him. Three trade missions, to China, the Middle East and the Association of South-East Asian Nation countries had cost about $l.l million, Mr O’Flynn said, “almost entirely recovered from the people who went on the missions.” The total cost of the China trip was $274,000 — all fully recovered — while in the Middle East, about $408,000 was spent and $275,000 recovered. Speaking as the Minister of Defence, Mr O’Flynn said the use of Air Force planes was “sensible" and offered immensely valuable experience to the crews.