Inquiry into Expenses Incurred by Dr Ross Armstrong as Chairperson of Three Public Entities

In November 2002, we decided to undertake an inquiry into Industrial Research Limited (IRL), New Zealand Post Limited (NZP), and Television New Zealand Limited (TVNZ) (“the entities”) in relation to expenses incurred by Dr Ross Armstrong during his terms as Chairperson of these entities.

Dr Armstrong had recently ended all his appointments. The matter of his expenses was the subject of a complaint to us by Hon Murray McCully MP following parliamentary and media comment. These events prompted us to instigate a detailed review in order to address more fully the issues raised.

Our terms of reference for the inquiry are given in Appendix 1 on page 48. Under the terms of reference, we identified and examined all expenses that were incurred by, or at the personal direction of, Dr Armstrong – including but not necessarily limited to:

• travel and accommodation, including overseas travel and expenses;
• entertainment;
• communications; and
• professional services.

We reviewed whether the expenditure examined had been incurred lawfully and appropriately, and any other matters that we were to consider it desirable to report on.

The period covered by the inquiry was from 1 January 2000 until the dates of Dr Armstrong’s resignations...