Very sad
April 27th, 2010 at 9:00 am by David FarrarThe Herald reports:
The Treasurer of the Parliamentary Press Gallery has stepped down after admitting he used press gallery funds for his own personal use.
A statement from the executive said NZPA reporter Ian Llewellyn made the admission in writing.
I was stunned when I read this last night, and am incredibly saddened by the revelation.
I’ve known Ian for over a decade, and regard him as an excellent journalist and a really good guy. This is so out of character for him that I almost couldn’t believe it.
According to the executive, Mr Llewellyn said he had been in financial difficulty but had made some repayments.
While financial difficulty is no excuse, a thought that crossed my mind was that if Ian had crossed over to the dark side (comms/pr) he would have been better off financially, but NZ has been better served by the fact that not all the experienced journalists do cross over. Again, this is no excuse.
Press Gallery chairwoman Jane Patterson and deputy Vernon Small said they were extremely disappointed at the breach of trust by a longstanding office holder and colleague.
As much as my thoughts are with Ian, I also feel very sorry for Jane and Vernon. Having to deal with this must have been very unpleasant for them. Also Ian’s NZPA colleagues especially will be finding this tough.
The Press Gallery intends to ask an independent auditor to examine the accounts covering the period in question, the statement said.
“Given the watchdog role the Press Gallery plays, it intends to handle this matter as openly as possible, and is intending to seek advice from the police.”
Yeah, there really is no choice but to do it publicly.
The statement said Mr Llewellyn has promised to pay back any missing money.
“The Press Gallery voted today to recommend to the Speaker of the House that Mr Llewellyn’s accreditation be suspended pending the outcome of the audit.”
Ouch. I can’t even recall the last time that happened. I’m not sure if it will ever be feasible for Ian to return to the gallery, but I do hope there is a way he can remain with NZPA. It would be sad to lose Ian from journalism, and he is paying a high price in terms of publicity for what he did.
April 27th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Quote was “Given the watchdog role the Press Gallery plays, it intends to handle this matter as openly as possible, and is intending to seek advice from the police.”
What watchdog role is that?
Free finger food and all the free piss you can drink?
Free rent
They are hardly independent
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Did anything ever happen about the Labour Party staffers who ALLEGEDLY stole alcohol from the Press Gallery’s Christmas party in 2008? It seems to me that the Gallery is taking a much harsher line against one of its own.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Sad is not the word I would use. “Ian is a good guy” etc etc let us not be too tough on him. There is too much of that in Wellington circles. There is a culture of dishonesty getting firmly entrenched in NZ especially in Government circles. Instead of these cases being exceptional they are becoming quite frequent.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Well said. He’s obviously spent too much time observing our MPs. After a while you could be forgiving for thinking OPM (Other People’s Money) is there for your own purposes. Where is Chris this week, BTW?
Notwithstanding I’m sure he is otherwise a decent bloke and I’d bet this financial pressure is either from gambling or property investments.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 9:37 am
That is honourable. Now at the other end of the honour spectrum … Winston Peters, when will you pay back the $158,000 you stole ?
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 9:55 am
You would think journalists would have enough brains to have dual signatories for all cheques and electronic transfers. If they are too dumb to institute such basic procedures, then they are far too dumb to be reporting from Parliament.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 10:19 am
I don’t know. Dual signatures/dual internet banking are a pain in the arse and probably not justified for a small undertaking. They’ve probably run it this way for years and years without problems and when they did have a problem the guy was caught. A failure doesn’t mean the system is inappropriate.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Ha, reminds me of Dr Strangelove, and this quote
“Well, I, uh, don’t think it’s quite fair to condemn a whole program because of a single slip-up, sir.”
And in context
——————————————————————————–
General “Buck” Turgidson: General Ripper called Strategic Air Command headquarters shortly after he issued the go code. I have a portion of the transcript of that conversation if you’d like me to to read it.
Vote:President Merkin Muffley: Read it!
General “Buck” Turgidson: Ahem… The Duty Officer asked General Ripper to confirm the fact that he *had* issued the go code, and he said, uh, “Yes gentlemen, they are on their way in, and no one can bring them back. For the sake of our country, and our way of life, I suggest you get the rest of SAC in after them. Otherwise, we will be totally destroyed by Red retaliation. Uh, my boys will give you the best kind of start, 1400 megatons worth, and you sure as hell won’t stop them now, uhuh. Uh, so let’s get going, there’s no other choice. God willing, we will prevail, in peace and freedom from fear, and in true health, through the purity and essence of our natural… fluids. God bless you all” and he hung up.
[beat]
General “Buck” Turgidson: Uh, we’re, still trying to figure out the meaning of that last phrase, sir.
President Merkin Muffley: There’s nothing to figure out, General Turgidson. This man is obviously a psychotic.
General “Buck” Turgidson: We-he-ell, uh, I’d like to hold off judgement on a thing like that, sir, until all the facts are in.
President Merkin Muffley: General Turgidson! When you instituted the human reliability tests, you *assured* me there was *no* possibility of such a thing *ever* occurring!
General “Buck” Turgidson: Well, I, uh, don’t think it’s quite fair to condemn a whole program because of a single slip-up, sir.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Great movie. I highly recommend “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” if you haven’t seen it. Brilliant.
My point was that all systems fail. And reliably is always a cost/benefit case with diminishing returns. The extra cost and inconvenience of making it more reliable/safe may not be justified. Kind of like why we only have a single spare tyre and no backup engine in our cars.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Judge not lest you be judged.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 11:00 am
IV2 said;
“Did anything ever happen about the Labour Party staffers who ALLEGEDLY stole alcohol from the Press Gallery’s Christmas party in 2008? It seems to me that the Gallery is taking a much harsher line against one of its own.”
Yes. He is now a Labour MP. And drop the allegedly you scaredy cat.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 11:03 am
With the Labour staffers, I think one lost their job, but the other three did not. The main culprit I think did appear in court but the media didn’t cover it – off memory he got diversion.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 11:05 am
” I’m not sure if it will ever be feasible for Ian to return to the gallery” , why not ?. Looking in from outside, when ever has a sacking or resignation from the hallow halls of parliament ever really meant anything? . How many of our so called betters have been relieved of their command only to pop up again several months later? I’m sure those “in the communtiy” are no different.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 11:27 am
I remember ian as a young lad when he worked in Bill’s office
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Even though he has paid back some of the money he has to all intents and purposes embezzled it for his own gain. Last time I checked this is against the law. If I was to do this at my workplace, not only would I be charged but would also be fired for serious misconduct. Nice guy or not, he broke the law and he should pay the consequences.
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Mr Llewellyn has a great future as a sports administrator..
Vote:April 27th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Malcolm – for an organisation you either run a ‘two signature’ system or have some similar control. And the second signatory should be paying attention to what he signs and not sign a bunch of blank cheques.
A one signature system could be used as long as it applies only to an account for paying day to day expenses (aka imprest account). Replenishment is from another account requiring two signatures and both signatories should look at the supporting dockets when signing the replenishment cheque.So even if the imprestee cheats a bit on the imprest account, he or she cannot syphon off the main funds unless the chairperson or committee members are virtually blind.
.
Vote:April 29th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
At least Ian doesn’t have to worry about Whaleoil outing his name.
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