Former cabinet minister says his spending was approved

Former Liberal cabinet minister Paul Dicks said Tuesday he was never contacted by Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general's office about his constituency allowance.

The auditor general's office has never named Dicks, but CBC News has learned that Dicks is the former Liberal cabinet minister who was the focus of an audit started in 2000.

During that audit, former auditor general Elizabeth Marshall reported that acabinet minister had spent more than $30,000 of taxpayers' money to buy artwork and wine.

However, when those findings were reported, the auditor general's office was banned from auditing the legislature. That decision was made by a bipartisan committee of the legislature in the spring of 2000.

In a written statement issued Tuesday, Dicks said he was never contacted by the auditor general's office about his constituency allowance, either while he was in government or since his retirement.

He said the constituency expenses that he claimed during his time as an MHA were within the budget andwere all approved.

"What has not been pointed out is that during my time as a member of the house of assembly, the constituency expenses that I claimed were in accordance with guidelines, within budget, receipted and approved," said Dicks.

Last week, the provincial cabinet approved changes to the Internal Economy Commission that gives the auditor general the ability to review the house's books.

Auditor General John Noseworthy is going to review MHA constituency allowances dating all the way back to when they were created in 1989.

Last month, the auditor general set off a political scandal when he alleged four politicians had misspent more than $1 million from their constituency accounts since 2003.