Government spent $20k flying former Donald Trump aide, expat New Zealander Chris Liddell to Auckland investment summit
The response said the correspondence 'primarily focused on the reimbursement of flights' but provided no additional information.
The Treasury confirmed to the Herald that Liddell was 'reimbursed for his flights from New York to Auckland and return'.
It said the cost of the reimbursement could be found in a response to a written parliamentary question from Labour's Kieran McAnulty to Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, who helped organise the summit.
The response from Bishop said no speakers were paid at the summit, but one speaker was reimbursed US$12,317.81 (about $20,532) for their flights.
'They were responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs outside of this,' Bishop said.
The Herald asked Bishop about the appropriateness of the payment and what benefits Liddell's inclusion had for taxpayers.
He said Liddell had given the keynote address at the summit's dinner, and 'ordinarily a keynote speaker of this calibre would have a fee well into the tens of thousands of dollars'.
'Mr Liddell did not ask for a speaking fee, so reimbursing the cost of his flights from New York to Auckland was appropriate,' Bishop said.
The Infrastructure Minister said the summit showcased New Zealand's 'ambitious pipeline of projects in transport, health, education, courts and corrections, and the resources sector'.
'The summit was attended by financial companies and institutions who collectively manage assets and funds worth more than $6 trillion of capital,' said Bishop.
McAnulty told the Herald: 'Spending $20k on flights for Trump's former [deputy] Chief of Staff to speak at a dinner more than raises eyebrows.'
He said Luxon calling Liddell 'mate' would be 'salt in the wounds' to Kiwi exporters and workers hit by tariffs implemented by Trump. Liddell is not a member of the current Trump administration, which is implementing a major new tariff regime.
At the March summit, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon praised Liddell.
'I just want to say, how good was Chris Liddell last night? I thought he was excellent,' Luxon said. 'I just want to say mate, thank you so much for what I thought, mate, was a very thoughtful, very considered presentation.'
At the conclusion, Luxon said the summit had created opportunities for investment and 'many millions of dollars' were now under discussion. He shared compliments from some investors praising the Government's efforts.
Liddell's appearance at the summit was considered a bringing in from the cold of the Kiwi, who was criticised by then-National Party leader Judith Collins in 2021. Liddell was running for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's top job at the time, something National initially supported, but Collins pulled that backing after the riot at the US Capitol.
'Mr Liddell's ties to the Trump Administration cannot be overlooked here, making it difficult to see how he would be suitable to uphold the OECD's strong commitment to democracy.'
Liddell told the Herald at the time he was 'horrified, like everyone else'. He stayed on as part of the Trump transition to the subsequent Biden Administration.
'Hit the spot'
The Herald has obtained correspondence between Liddell and Ben King, chief executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), in which the pair organise Liddell's appearance and discuss the contents of his speech.
It begins in mid-February – about a month before the summit – with King thanking Liddell for confirming his interest and availability to deliver the keynote address in an early phone call.
'We are very grateful to you for making your valuable time available to support this important national initiative. Thanks also for confirming you are available to attend the whole summit.'
In that email, King confirmed the Government would cover business premium return flights from the US, saying Liddell could either book these himself and get the costs reimbursed or DPMC could book it for him.
King said the Government was also 'happy to meet transfer costs and fair and reasonable incidentals during your time in NZ for the conference', but Liddell responded saying he was happy to cover that himself.
Liddell later emailed saying there was some delay with flights being booked for him and he was 'concerned about missing a seat'. After contact from officials, Liddell said that 'rather than causing issues, I'll just pay and you can reimburse in due course'.
'Takes pressure off and you can finalise whatever clearance you need to at your end.'
A Treasury official responded and said that was appreciated.
'We will all feel much more comfortable once your flight is confirmed,' they said.
There had been an attempt to link Liddell up with the Prime Minister in person while Liddell was in New Zealand at the time, but there were some schedule issues.
'He's definitely committed to connecting with you in good time to help you develop remarks that will 'hit the spot' with international investors,' King said.
There were some conversations over the following weeks about the main messages of Liddell's address, with him getting early access to a draft version of the Prime Minister's speech and other material.
Following receipt of Luxon's speech, Liddell responded: 'Looks good. I will be hitting a lot of the same themes so hopefully the bookends of the day will resonate with each other.'
'You nailed it'
An email from King to Liddell after the speech is glowing.
'I'll find a way to express more fulsome thanks. But let me say, for tonight, that I hope you feel the visit to New Zealand was worth it. Your contribution at the gala dinner was widely acclaimed – I've had fulsome compliments for your speech from the foreign visitors and New Zealanders alike.
'I think you nailed it by taking a step back to look at global megatrends; applying them to a NZ context; pitching the value proposition of NZ as an investment destination; and also giving us all a bit of an (honest, necessary) challenge – for us to ensure we don't be complacent and don't fail to act boldly (not incrementally).
'I know how much time you would have put into the speech; and the sacrifice of coming back to NZ after you'd really just left.'
He ended by saying, 'you knocked it out of the park'.
Liddell responded to King's email by thanking him.
'I was really heartened by the reaction, and yes, that certainly made the trip very worthwhile,' he said.
As the Herald reported at the time, Liddell used his speech to express his belief that New Zealand can be the best small country in the world.
'But realising that vision depends on its ability to harness its strengths to deal with the upcoming challenges of the world – a world that will change more in the next decade than in any other period in my lifetime.'
He advised keeping a low profile when it came to the US during a period of global turbulence and is said to have described Trump as 'intuitive'.
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