Double-dipping MP needs to pay salary back to Council

Responding to an announcement by Jamie Arbuckle MP that he intends to resign as a Marlborough Councillor in October this year, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross:

“Jamie Arbuckle claims that he’s hanging around as a Councillor until October to avoid the cost of a by-election, but that concern for ratepayers is clearly only skin-deep.

“When Mr Arbuckle says he’ll give his Council salary to charity, what he’s actually saying is he thinks he knows how to spend ratepayers’ money better than they do.

“Rather than picking projects he likes, Jamie Arbuckle needs to pay the salary he never should have been claiming in the first place back to the Council.”