Bill English has sought to squash continuing controversy by announcing that he has received no housing allowance since the end of July, will not accept it in the future, and has paid back everything he got since the election.
He also declared Monday that he has paid back everything he received in housing assistance since last year's election, all $32,000 of it.
He says ongoing doubt about his eligibility for the allowance is unacceptable to him as Finance Minister, and the controversy has become a distraction from his main job of guiding the economy through recession.
But he insists that he has done nothing wrong and says that the rules need to be clearer.
Mr English has been at the centre of criticism for receiving a full ministerial housing allowance while living in a home owned by his family trust.
This changes nothing, says Anderton
Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton says however that this changes nothing. Mr Anderton, who has made a complaint to the Auditor-General about the matter, says:
"The issue is whether a member of Parliament ... representing an electorate outside of Wellington can claim a housing allowance for buying a house in Wellington and shifting his or her family there.
"Now that has not been available to anybody as of right or entitlement as far as I know in the history of benefits and entitlements that members get."
Should he have claimed an allowance at all?
Radio New Zealand's political editor says the Auditor-General's office is still looking at whether it should investigate Mr English for claiming any allowance at all, considering that his family has lived in Wellington since the mid-1990s.
Mr English sought a meeting with staff from the Auditor-General's office after it wrote informing him of Mr Anderton's complaint. That meeting was due to take place Monday night.
