Was Worth profiteering from dodgy Indian trip?

Internal Affairs minister Richard Worth may be running out of lives, as another overseas gaff saw him hauled over the coals in parliament for his controversial trip to India which Labour now claims he may have profited from personally.
Mr Worth says there was no conflict of interest over his six day trip to India last month, where he allegedly spoke on behalf of the government while brokering business deals for the India Trade Group.
Mr Worth is chairman of India Trade Group, and a director in the Indian Overseas Group and New Zealand Aviation.
Mr Worth spoke at a formal ceremony in his role as government minister, extolling the virtues of New Zealand as a location for aviation training, specifically referencing the Southern Institute of Technology which wants to train Indian pilots - and has links to New Zealand Aviation.
Mr Worth has now resigned the position after drawing the ire of the Prime Minister who has said that he has “little patience” for perceived conflict of interest issues.
Labour has been running attack lines ever since, including suggestions in parliament yesterday suggesting that Mr Worth had not only abused his ministerial privileges by allowing fellow shareholders to use ministerial facilitation at Auckland Airport, but may have benefited from the trip materially.
01/04/09 Allan Swann/The National Business Review, New Zeland

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Categories: Foreign Apr 2009