9 Dec 2010

Auditor-General considers investigating Wongs

7:41 pm on 9 December 2010

The Auditor-General is considering investigating the use of the parliamentary travel perk by former minister Pansy Wong and her husband.

Although a report by an independent investigator last week cleared Mrs Wong of systematic abuse of the perks system, the Labour Party is pointing to what it says is a fresh inconsistency.

Labour MP Pete Hodgson says that, despite telling the investigator his only business interest in China is hovercrafts, it has now been discovered Sammy Wong acts as the sole agent in China for MacLeans College.

Mr Hodgson says it might be an innocent mistake, but the Auditor-General must now step in.

He says he has received further information about the Wongs, which he will reveal once it is translated.

A spokesperson for the Auditor-General, Lyn Provost, says the matter is being considered and the office will announce next week whether it will investigate the couple.

Pansy Wong on Thursday rejected claims her husband has withheld information from the inquiry into her taxpayer funded travel.

The MP for Botany resigned as a Cabinet minister in November.