Wellington, Dec 8 NZPA - Finance Minister Bill English broke the law, Labour alleged in Parliament today.

Prime Minister John Key confirmed this morning that rules requiring ministers to keep their self-drive cars in their electorates were changed in May this year.

The change removed the requirement for self-drive cars be based at a minister's primary place of residence, so Mr English could use one in Wellington rather than in Dipton, in his Clutha-Southland electorate.

Mr English's assertion that Dipton was his primary place of residence was controversial this year, because it allowed him to claim rent to live in a Karori property in Wellington.

Mr Key is responsible for Ministerial Services and overseas their perks, which include an entitlement to one self-drive car.

He said the rule change was to fix an "impractical and silly" situation, not to benefit Mr English.

In Parliament this afternoon Labour MP Pete Hodgson said that as Mr English had been using the car before the rule change he had broken the law (The Civil List Act).

Cabinet Minister Gerry Brownlee, answering on behalf of Mr Key, said there were bigger problems to worry about than where ministers kept their cars.

"The reality is that when it became clear that a number of ministers had decided to have their families here with them in Wellington and to also have their self-drive cars here in Wellington, it was necessary to make a change," he said.

"There is no net loss to the taxpayer. Ministers are still entitled to only one self-drive car, just as they were through all the nine years of the Labour Government, and just as they have been for many, many decades."

Mr Hodgson was not satisifed: "how does the Minister (Mr Key) explain his role in breaking the law?... Why, in his ministerial role, did he sign off his colleague as living in Dipton in February, but signed off that same colleague as needing his car in Wellington in May?"

Mr Brownlee said Mr Key was "most uninterested in where ministers garaged their self-drive cars. Given the circumstances this country faced, it was of bugger-all relevance".

Other ministers also had self-drives in Wellington -- among them Peter Dunne, Chris Finlayson, Anne Tolley, Tony Ryall, Phil Heatley, Simon Power, Nathan Guy, Tariana Turia, Rodney Hide and Heather Roy.

Mr Power (who lives in the Manawatu), Mr Guy (Horowhenua) and Ms Turia (Wanganui) used their cars to drive to and from homes in their electorates.

If ministers did not use self-drive cars, they would be entitled to use Crown cars with a driver, or taxis.

Mr Key said the cost to the taxpayer could well be higher in those cases.

Mr English said he had not lobbied for any rule change.

"As I understand the rule change was made to accommodate ministers with families in Wellington," Mr English said.

"I did not really know about the rule until it was changed to be honest. When you become a minister part of the package is a self drive car... it was delivered to me in Wellington."

Mr English said Labour had arranged for the story to come out today because it wanted to distract from its caucus meeting where MPs questioned their leader Phil Goff over a recent speech on the Maori Party.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark had put in place the ban on ministerial self-drive cars in Wellington after former minister Ruth Dyson was caught drunk driving, Mr English said.

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