Turei agrees to investigation

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei will meet with Work and Income investigators next week about her benefit fraud.

She confirmed yesterday that she had spoken with an investigator from the Ministry of Social Development after she sent a letter asserting her ‘‘willingness to co-operate fully with an investigation into the period of time I received a benefit during the 1990s’’.

‘‘I made myself available to be interviewed about my case. We are in the process of confirming the details of that meeting, but it will take place next week.’’

Turei dropped a bombshell two weeks ago when she admitted she had committed benefit fraud while studying for her law degree and raising her baby on the Domestic Purposes Benefit.

Yesterday, Turei said she didn’t regret admitting the fraud. ‘‘We need a national conversation about how to end poverty in this country and that’s been started,’’ Turei said.

She said she would comply with investigators and pay back the full amount owed.

Turei had not sought legal advice on whether she may have to leave Parliament if convicted.

Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis said that would be unlikely because the charges would be hard to bring and the law at the time did not specify a prison sentence of over two years - the barometer for whether a convicted MP has to leave Parliament or not.

Turei is also in the spotlight for not looking for work while on a benefit but she did spend time running for political parties.

In 1993, she stood for the McGillicuddy Serious Party and in 1996 she campaigned for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.

‘‘(Campaigning) took a little bit of time but this is the thing, people are entitled to have a decent life and I want every beneficiary to have enough money to be financially secure,’’ she told Radio NZ.

In response to people who said she should have been working instead, Turei said, ‘‘they’re entitled to their opinion and views and can make their judgments’’.

Something to argue about, Opinion A9