The Speaker has reported back on Pansy Wong's abuse of her Parliamentary travel perks and effectively swept the whole thing under the carpet, finding that she abused it only for a single trip between Beijing and Lianyungang in 2008. As a result, she will only have to repay $474.12.
Note "repay". If a shop assistant stole that much from the till or in goods, or a public servant abused the departmental credit card to fly to Auckland for a private trip, they'd at minimum be sacked, and likely be facing charges. But those rules are for little people. Politicians, apparently, are above the law.
Unlike Lockwood Smith, I have zero tolerance for politicians who rip us off. Wong stole from us. She needs to be held accountable, and she should not be in our Parliament. The law should apply equally to all, not just to the weak and powerless.
