Claudette Hauiti Claudette Hauiti is leaving politics after being told her list ranking was not likely to be high enough for her to return to Parliament. National’s first openly-lesbian MP has been in Parliament for just 14 months, replacing the disgraced Aaron Gilmore. During her tenure she has hit national headlines for breaking the rules twice – first employing her own wife in her electorate office, and the second time misusing her parliamentary charge card. Both times, she said she’d made mistakes. Her wife was let go from her employment and her spending was paid back. Prime Minister John Key suggested to media yesterday that her use of her parliamentary charge card to pay for a private trip to Australia had impacted her list ranking. "She has had a very strong message from the party that as a result of making a mistake [she] is very unlikely to get a decent list ranking," he said. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has claimed a "cover-up" and says how much Hauiti spent should be revealed. A TV producer, Hauiti entered Parliament in May last year, telling GayNZ.com at the time it was “an honour and a privilege to be part of John Key’s Government and to be in Parliament”. The mother of three said she chose National because she had been brought up to be economically independent and self-reliant. “Absolutely, I’m gay. But it’s more than about being gay. It’s about my family’s future.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 23rd July 2014 - 9:58am