Wreda boss pays back $4673
The chairman of Wellington’s economic development agency has personally repaid almost $5000 after charging expenses to his work.
Those expenses included a trans-Tasman flight and dining out, which he initially believed the ratepayer-funded Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) should pay for, but later repaid all or part of.
Peter Biggs’ sudden repayment came after Stuff requested, under the Official Information Act, the expenses he had charged back to Wreda. The repayment – totalling $4673.84 – also followed a conversation between Biggs and Wellington Mayor Justin Lester who ‘‘clarified his further expectations’’, Wreda interim chief executive Derek Fry said.
Wellington City Council is the major funder of Wreda.
Earlier this year, it revealed Wreda’s former chief executive, Chris Whelan, drank flash wine and bought oysters while entertaining on his Wreda credit card – moves then defended by Biggs as necessary to bed Whelan in after he arrived in Wellington.
Details of Biggs’ repaid expenses, which were initially withheld, show that he too had a penchant for fine dining.
Those meals included a $875 dinner with New Zealand’s trade commissioner in London, Dan Taylor, and his wife, a $585 dinner with Wellington City Council boss Kevin Lavery, and a $318 dinner with Fry who was working for the city council at the time.
The expenses also included a $1500 trans-Tasman flight, which was ‘‘wrongly coded’’, Wreda said.
Wreda’s initial explanation for not revealing what this money had been spent on was because it was Biggs’ personal expenditure.
Fry later explained the spending was originally approved by Wreda but the payments ‘‘reflect his own personal view of costs and the mayor’s stated expectation’’.
Lester said he took spending issues seriously. ‘‘I’ve made my expectations very clear to all council organisations, and we set a high bar ... Derek Fry is dealing with it appropriately.’’
He was not aware what the expenses were for or what had been paid back.
Fry said Biggs had ‘‘followed all appropriate processes in terms of expenses incurred’’ during his tenure.
‘‘Mayor Justin Lester has recently clarified his further expectations, and in respect of this the chair[man] has since chosen to personally reconcile a selection of hosting expenses totalling $4,673.84 from between 2014 and 2017. Neither the mayor nor I asked that the chair[man] take this action. It was entirely his decision.’’
Biggs would not be commenting further, Fry said.
Lavery said Wreda followed the council-controlled organisation business model, which required it to have a board that brought together interesting people with private-sector experience to add value and generate growth.
Biggs’s spending was a matter for Fry, who made his feelings clear after Whelan’s elaborate spending, Lavery said. ‘‘It’s now time to move on and support Wreda in doing a great job for Wellington.’’