$57k travel bill for Treaty talks

More than $57,000 of taxpayer money has been spent on jetsetting Government officials to the Chatham Islands and back for iwi negotiations.

Figures provided by the Taxpayers’ Union reveal $44,214 was spent on flights, $10,911 on hotels and $2025 on rental cars and fees from August 2015 to March 2017.

The Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS) blamed a ‘‘lack of high-speed internet connection’’ in the Chathams for much of the travel, and that neither of the iwi negotiating with OTS had access to video conferencing equipment.

However, Taxpayers’ Union executive director Jordan Williams said the local council was contacted about the infrastructure and the response was that the internet worked ‘‘perfectly fine’’.

‘‘Have they thought of video conferencing, emailing, or even picking up the phone?’’

One of the flights alone for one official cost the taxpayer more than $2600 - ‘‘that is enough to get you around Europe and back’’, Williams said.

A spokesperson for Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said OTS used teleconferences, phone calls and emails to carry out its work with two claimant groups on the Chatham Islands - Ngati Mutunga o Wharekauri and Moriori.

‘‘At certain times, face-to-face meetings and site visits are crucial given the nature and sensitivity of Treaty settlement negotiations. Settlement negotiations are about rebuilding trust and the relationship between iwi and the Crown. This simply cannot be achieved by exclusively using other forms of communication.’’

Travel to the Chatham Islands was ‘‘relatively expensive’’ and outside of the control of OTS, the spokesperson said.