David Garrett

Wellington, March 18 NZPA - Questions were asked in Parliament today about whether former MP Tukoroirangi Morgan's work as a treaty claims facilitator had involved double-dipping.

ACT MP David Garrett asked Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson how much the Office of Treaty Settlements had paid Mr Morgan as a Crown facilitator since November 16, 2008, and whether he was paid on an hourly rate.

Mr Finlayson said that between November 16, 2008, and March 1, 2010, the Office of Treaty Settlements paid Mr Morgan $171,093 for facilitation work with a number of claimant groups.

He said Mr Morgan was paid at an hourly rate with a cap limit.

Mr Garrett: "Can he assure the House that Tukoroirangi Morgan has not been charging for the same hours twice, once to the Office of Treaty Settlements and again to the Tainui Trust Board?"

Mr Finlayson: "Whatever charging arrangements Mr Morgan may have with Waikato Tainui, I have no ministerial responsibility for. I can guarantee the member that any payments made by the Crown to Mr Morgan for facilitation work have been for those services with the iwi groups I mentioned in my answer to the primary question. That work is quite different from the Crown's engagement with Waikato Tainui."