Summarised by Centrist
Sean Plunket has uncovered who funded Chlöe Swarbrick’s recent trip to London, where she was spotted flying business class.
The trip was arranged and paid for by the Insurance Council of New Zealand, led by former Labour minister Kris Faafoi, who confirmed all parliamentary parties had been invited to “reinsurance-focused meetings” in the UK.
According to Faafoi’s statement, the council reimbursed MPs for premium economy flights. Plunket stated that as a party leader, Swarbrick qualified for a taxpayer-funded upgrade to business class.
“Oh! Up the workers! Unless you’re flying business class,” he quipped. The old socialist slogan “up the workers” is meant to show solidarity with ordinary people, but Plunket argued Swarbrick undermined that stance by accepting a luxury upgrade.
Plunket further pointed out the contradiction of Swarbrick, who campaigns on climate change, taking a high-emission business class flight for meetings that “could have been done over Zoom.”
He argued the trip looked less about learning how the reinsurance market works, and more about a powerful industry lobbying MPs.
Swarbrick, who is also the party’s spokesperson for climate change, was joined by Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson and Labour MP Rachel Brooking. Faafoi insisted the meetings were valuable to ensure MPs understood the global reinsurance market and had “direct relationships” with overseas insurers.
“Why do New Zealand MPs need to have direct relationships with insurers in Britain? You could just read a book,” Plunket said.
Image: Larzatron
