Shearer failed to disclose his offshore bank account
March 18th, 2013 at 1:23 pm by David FarrarPatrick Gower has tweeted:
David Shearer has corrected MPs Register of Pecuniary Interests after not disclosing United Nations bank account. Says it was mistake.
This means that his declaration to the Registrar has been incorrect for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Mistakes of course can happen, and maybe it only had a trivial amount of money in it, such as $50.
But it would be good to know how material the non-disclosure was and how it was over-looked.
UPDATE: Trevor Mallard blogged in 2010 that Chris Finlayson must be stood down for a minor non-disclosure that year. I can only presume that Mr Mallard regards failing to disclose an entire bank account as far more serious and also warrants a stand down. Also note that the Finlayson incident was entirely technical and non-substantive. What we are still awaiting is how large was David Shearer’s forgotten bank account.
UPDATE 2: NRT on Twitter has pointed out the bank account must have had at least $50,000 in it to be required to be disclosed.
UPDATE3: I/S at NRT has blogged:
Shearer clearly knows the rules around bank accounts, because he already declares one (a term deposit with Westpac). So he can’t claim ignorance as a defence. If he deliberately tried to deceive the New Zealand public about his assets, then he’s morally unfit to be leader of the Labour Party, or an MP for that matter. But even if we accept his excuse, and ascribe it to sheer forgetfulness (something which I think the New Zealand public would find extremely difficult to believe), then he’s too incompetent for the job.
Meanwhile, its worth pointing out: knowingly making a false return is Contempt of Parliament, and the argument that this was not knowing requires superhuman credulity. Will Parliament hold its own to account? Or will they once again collude in their cozy conspiracy of silence around these matters?
I’m not as harsh as NRT. I am assuming it is an honest mistake. But it is a pretty big omission, so there is a need for David Shearer to fully explain the omission.
UPDATE4: Cactus Kate has raised an interesting point. Did Shearer declare the bank account to the IRD? If he did not, then that is even bigger trouble. If he did, then how was it included for tax compliance but not for transparency requirements? If every year you are filing a tax return that includes income from the foreign bank account, that should prompt you to remember it for the Register of Pecuniary Interests.
Related posts:
- Shearer declared bank account to IRD but not Registrar
- How much was in the undisclosed bank account?
- Hide complains National too soft on Shearer
- Gower on Shearer and errors
March 18th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
hopefully someone journo can actually clear up what this account actually is,
Is it an official UN account or a something else, because after a quick google the closest I could find to a “”United nations bank Account”" was the “United Nations Federal Credit Union” which is a Federally insured US based Credit union for UN staff….
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Mallard – lol.
But surely an MP’s interests are only of concern to us where it is possible he could use his position in the house to sway the legislature for his own surreptitious personal benefit?
It’s hard to imagine some cash in a bank account somewhere motivating any particularly dodgy dealings. But of course rules is rules…
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:14 pm
lmao that’s awesome
“It’s hard to imagine some cash in a bank account somewhere motivating any particularly dodgy dealings.” depends who put it there
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:19 pm
The Liarbore/UN connections get dirtier every day.. wonder how many 3rd World boys have had to pick up the soap for ex NZ MP’s, or cohorts of ex NZ PMs…
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:21 pm
DPF
You know it’s different when somebody in Labour does it… Mallard… Is that guy still being taken seriously enough to both mentioning… Hell – it shows how shallow the talent pool is in Labour when he’s still around.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:24 pm
RRM
What… like not declaring $100,000 donations from horse racing business while pushing through a tax cut for the racing industry as a coalition condition… Imagine that – we would send a person doing that out wouldn’t we …. they would never be in government again would they ….
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:29 pm
I am sure it is all above board, a simple mistake by an honest man, temporary amnesia about a stray $50,000.
And of course no UN staffer would ever have money stashed away in an off-shore account.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:30 pm
freemark – I believe Shearer did a bit of work for the UN long before he was a member of the Labour Party?
dime – you reckon it’s a bribe from someone in the UN, not money he earned?
Burt – Sorry I forgot I need to spell out that I think Winston’s dodgy, every time I post on any topic on Kiwiblog
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
I wish I had enough money so that I could forget about the odd $50000 stashed here and there.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
Why would he have to declare in 2008 when he wasn’t an MP until midway through 2009?
[DPF: Ta, I forgot he came in later]
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:39 pm
Here’s hoping that David Shearer’s forgotten bank account isn’t located in Cyprus; that’d be a double-whammy.
And this man aspires to be Prime Minister one day…
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Perhaps Shearer wants to be NZ’s second retrospectively validated PM and his way of doing that is to file incorrect returns then use the power of parliament after he is elected to ensure he never needs to be accountable….
He has big shoes to fill on this front.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:49 pm
They’re all at it.
How many houses does Helen own again?
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 2:56 pm
RRM – nah, i think hes an honest bloke. you could imagine what your guys what say if he was a national mp though
or act.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:08 pm
Oh that’s made my day! Shearer in contempt of the House for knowingly providing false information to the House!!
Channelling Trev:
Vote:He needs to go to the sin bin and not be allowed out until he can prove that each of his declarations have been factual. Given the other problems he has it might be an easy way out for Shearer.
March 18th, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Maybe it’s Mallard’s ticket sale profits for all those events he couldn’t make at the last minute? In which case it’s totally legit.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
The nightmare Scenario…..Shearer no longer Labour leader.
Vote:Grant Robertson (I polished up the handles so carefully that now I am the ruler of the King’s navy) is keen and eager to take the reins despite having no knowledge of the real world. (Student Politician – Helen Clark aide- MP -Deputy Leader- ??????)
March 18th, 2013 at 3:19 pm
I am curious why Russel Norman does not declare an interest in an Australian Superannuation scheme.
Vote:They have been compulsory for all people working in Australia since the early 90′s and for a long time now you haven’t been able to withdraw the funds even if you leave the country. Even when you could withdraw on leaving the country permanently there was a massive penalty for doing so and nobody did so.
It’s hard to believe that Norman never had a job in Australia, and therefore a super fund. Why is it not being declared?
March 18th, 2013 at 3:37 pm
alwyn, is $50K the trigger point for declaration? I doubt he would have that in the fund.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:45 pm
Colville.
The point is he has ‘corrected’ it so he must have got it wrong for the last FOUR years.
But Brutus is an honourable man…
I am dying to hear his mumblef-ck excuses!
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:45 pm
alwyn makes a good point about Russel Norman….
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Beab I was speaking to alwyn re Red Wussel not speaking to the thread generally re Captian Mumblefuck.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
glasshouses – stones – brain fade
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Gosh, you can imagine the “facepalming” going on in the Labour Caucus right now. Hilarious.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Colville @ 3.37pm
Vote:The standing orders merely say ANY superannuation fund must be declared. There is no mention of value. This will be why a lot of the MPs nominate a Kiwisaver account.
The $50,000 is in the next clause and says you only have to declare any money owing to the member which exceeds $50,000.
I guess this is why people are saying that the bank account must have more than $50,000 in it.
March 18th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Beltway issue.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
alwyn, he arrived here in 1997. This was during when funds could be withdrawn.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 4:02 pm
alwyn>It’s hard to believe that Norman never had a job in Australia, and therefore a super fund.
I don’t find it hard to believe. Would you employ him? Maybe if you were in the printing industry.
But back to Shearer… Was his secret bank account in Switzerland by any chance? He’s opposed to NZ-based assets being owned by foreigners, but deposits his own cash overseas where presumably the foreign bank lends it to foreign businesses and foreign home buyers. Wouldn’t he be better off investing his cash in NZ?
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
alwyn thanks. If he hasnt closed the account it would be interesting to know.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 4:30 pm
Don’t forget that it was for knowingly filing a misleading Pecuniary Interest return that Winston Peters was hauled before the Privileges Committee in 2008, and censured by Parliament.
And given that just last week Shearer restored the error-prone Shane Jones to the front bench, should we assume that Labour’s campaign slogan in 2014 will be “Don’t sweat the small stuff”?
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 4:31 pm
There are some some good utility shares on offer at the moment..
Shonkey Shearer with an off shore bank account! You couldn’t make this stuff up.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 4:33 pm
What would be interesting is whether Shearer identified the “mistake” himself, or has someone done some digging and discovered it first and let him know?
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 5:07 pm
you are right BeaB .. Shearer just loves calling John Key as being shonkey .. mmm, maybe it’s time for him to desist
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 6:10 pm
The sad thing is I probably believe he forgot about it. He’s such a plonker that forgetting $50k would be in character.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 6:22 pm
I think we may be getting ahead of the facts here. We need to know what was in the account.
Before becoming an NZ MP Shearer travelled about quite a lot as I understand it. Local rules in those various places may have required him to have a lot of accounts over time. It is quite credible that one of these could have been forgotten – especially if it had only a few dollars in it.
A wise pollie would declare all accounts regardless of what was in them – even if this was under the $50k threshold, and even if it had been forgotten for a few years.
If so, this is a trvial oversight, and not even a breach of the rules.
Of course, if he does have a few million stashed in a Swiss bank account with no record where it came from, THEN we have cause to get outraged.
The point is, we do not yet know enough.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 6:38 pm
Explanation is he’s filed tax returns with it in all these years and only discovered it may be required to go on the pecuniary interest register when going through with his wife this year. That is he’s admitted a proactive involvement in doing his own tax returns,
So every year he has declared the account to the IRD, reminding him of the account yet didn’t declare it on his pecuniary interest register because he forgot. Despite being reminded of the account every time he filed his tax return, right glad that is cleared up.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 6:59 pm
That sounds plausible Cactus, doesn’t excuse it but easy to have mentally parked an oversea bank account as only applying to his overseas life.
He has now volunteered the information, no harm done apart from a bit of embarrassment, that may be about all there is to it.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Can you imagine the outcry from Liarbour, the Gweens, Winston First and the MSM if this was a story concerning John Key?
Vote:Sheep shearer would be all over the news saying he should be stood down for not declaring a pecuniary interest.
Has anyone heard a comment from John Key about this? No, because he is a bigger man than all the left put together and doesn’t play petty politics.
March 18th, 2013 at 7:15 pm
PG – lol being nice to the next coalition partner?
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
dime – I’m not sure Shearer will last that long, I’ve got no idea what I’ll be doing, and if Dunne has another go and survives another election I can’t see him going with a coalition that currently looks worse than the 2011 prospects he ruled out working with.
So it’s got nothing to do with that.
Gotcha karma will deal to Shearer on this, but I don’t see any need to stick the boot in here.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
Buggar Shearer’s offshore account. Has Winston got one?
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 7:37 pm
PG says, he has now volunteered the information, no harm done apart from a bit of imbarrassment, that may be about all there is to it.
Vote:Can you imagine the left saying that ? No, they would come down on a National minister like 2 tons of bricks for something less that Shearer has just done. “Fucking hypicrites”
March 18th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
He did claim this was the account he paid his UN salary into and considering how much he was paid that would be a decent amount.
Vote:If he’s paid tax on it then there is no issue with the IRD but it proves yet again he’s a wee bit thick.
The explanation was it was his offshore life so he’d parked his memory on it, yet every year for at least three he remembered enough of his offshore life to declare it to the IRD.
Politicians have been hung for a lot less than being this thick.
March 18th, 2013 at 8:18 pm
As Blair says- beltway issue.
Shearer has nothing to gain by purposely hiding the account so why would he do it? Its an oversight by an idiot, but he’s the Labour party leader so we already know he’s an idiot.
Whether Sheaer or some other socialist idiot leads the Labour party in opposition doesn’t matter much in the scheme of things.
The real problem in this country is the leadership of the governing National Party.
Vote:March 18th, 2013 at 8:39 pm
Nice work, Mr Cunliffe.
Vote:March 19th, 2013 at 12:06 am
my God. If this was John key…. please msm, please don’t be the feckless left wing fuckwits like John I’m a cock campbell and run with this. We all know, that if this was a National person, they would be hoisted and foisted and left to dangle. Imagine if this was fucking John Key. So Shearer is a liar and a nasty UN money hoarder.
Vote:March 19th, 2013 at 10:12 am
Sorry DF. Except you and Whale Oil, nobody is bothered about this. Just a honest mistake by an incredibly hard working bloke. As per latest Roy Morgan poll, Shearer will be PM in a Labour-Green-NZ First-Mana coalition. So let us back Shearer and move on from this storm in a tea cup folks.
Vote:March 19th, 2013 at 2:36 pm
@Sir Cullen’s Sidekick:
Fixed that for you.
Vote: