Auditor-general pots govt on Ihumātao spending

Tue, 20 Apr 2021

The government spent money unlawfully to buy property at the heart of a protracted Māori land dispute at Ihumātao, the auditor-general has ruled.The use of $29.9 million of funds from the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development’s Land for Housing Programme occurred without the correct approvals being sought by the ministry and therefore “the expenditure was incurred without appropriation and without authority to use Imprest Supply”.“For these reasons, the payment is unlawful until validated by Parliament,” the O...

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