a "jack up" by the Labour majority on the Porirua City Council and Seddon's friendship with John Burke. A group of senior Porirua City Council officers jointly signed a letter during the appointment row saying he wasn't the right man for the job as Seddon was not a qualified accountant, the usual prior professional qualification of town clerks at that time, but he had been responsible for managing a company with three times the turnover of the Porirua City Council. Ombudsman Lester Castle was called in to investigate and eventually cleared the appointment process as being sufficiently objective. Following the 1980 elections Labour lost their majority on the council. 1984 – Independent MP John Kirk, the son of former Prime Minister Norman Kirk, absconds, owing more than $280,000. He is arrested in the US, held in prison, and then extradited to New Zealand. 1984 – Following the 1984 general election a constitutional crisis occurred when Muldoon refused to act on instruction of the incoming government, causing a growing currency crisis to worsen. Eventually he relented, after his position as National Party leader was threatened by members of his caucus. Prior to the snap election, Muldoon had announced its date to journalists while being very clearly drunk. 1984 – National Cabinet Minister Keith Allen passed away. Immediately prior to his death Muldoon had refused to accept Allen's resignation from cabinet. Allen found the burdens of holding the office combined with his worsening affliction of diabetes were making his life too stressful. Other National MPs such as Hugh Templeton and Don McKinnon think Muldoon's harsh treatment of Allen contributed significantly to his premature death. 1986 – The Māori loan affair: an unauthorised attempt by the Department of Māori Affairs to raise money overseas for Māori development. 1990s 1992 – Rebel National MP Gilbert Myles instigated a political scandal in September 1992 when he accused former Labour MP Fred Gerbic of operating a graft while he was a minister. Myles, under Parliamentary privilege, alleged that Gerbic took financial donations in exchange for residency approvals in his capacity as associate Minister of Immigration and in support tabled a transcript of an alleged tape recorded conversation between two Auckland Labour Party members. In response Gerbic denied the allegations and maintained his innocence throughout. The claims were investigated by John McGrath QC who, in November 1993, found no evidence of impropriety by Gerbic and dismissed Myles'