Aaron Gilmore 'needs to pay his bills' before running for council, parents say
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
The parents of disgraced former MP Aaron Gilmore say he should repay the $500,000 loan they allege he owes them, before having a tilt at becoming a Wellington City councillor.
Gilmore last week announced his intention to run for Wellington’s Motukairangi/Eastern ward. His parents Garry and Kay Gilmore have since told Stuff their son was “entitled” and “needs to pay his bills first”.
However, Gilmore argued that he did not owe his parents anything as the loan, which “is not close to $500,000”, was to a trust set up for his children.
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**
He first hit the headlines in 2013 after he was forced to quit Parliament over his antics during a boozy night in Hanmer Springs, where he allegedly asked a barman “Do you know who I am?” and threatened to get the prime minister's office involved to have them sacked.
Gilmore, the 59th-ranked National list MP at the time, later fronted a press conference to apologise for his behaviour towards the barman, saying he was rude and a bully. “If there was a dickhead that night, it was me,” he said.
Gilmore drew up the loan agreement with his parents in October 2018*, a fact that is not disputed by either party. The agreement initially gave Gilmore 37 days to pay the loan back, his parents said.
He made initial instalments worth $70,000. The most recent payment made was $500 in June 2019. By this time a new agreement had changed the borrower to the Mighty Rocket Trust, of which Gilmore is the trustee.
“We’re hurt over the way he’s treating us. We never raised him this way,” his mother, Kay Gilmore, said.
“There are other members of our family we want to help with this money, and he’s holding it hostage.”
After four years of waiting for their son to “do the right thing”, Aaron Gilmore’s parents took their claim to court in February – seeking $257,000 of the $500,000.
A Wellington apartment – worth between $400,000 and $500,000 – in Mulgrave St is listed under Gilmore’s name.
Gilmore told the High Court he hoped the money from selling it could be used to repay his parents.
He added he had another apartment on the same street that could act as security for the loan.
His parents alleged Gilmore wanted more than the $500,000 they loaned him in 2018 and “threw a tantrum” when they refused to go any higher.
The ongoing financial dispute has seen Gilmore lose contact with all members of his parents’ family.
His youngest daughter, aged 3, had not met her grandparents as a result of the dispute.
“We want to move on. We need him to apologise and pay us back,” Kay Gilmore said.
Aaron Gilmore listed his tenure as a National Party MP, his volunteer work for the Wellington Zoo and a position on the committee of his daughter’s community creche among the experience that qualified him for a seat on council.
“He can do that (run for local council), but he needs to pay his bills first,” his mother said.
“He’s running away from his problems. You have to be a big boy and own up. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
In a statement to Stuff, Gilmore refuted that he owed his parents any money, and said the dispute was over a family trust “set up by me for the long term benefit of their grandchildren” in 2018.
The loan was secured by property and would be repaid upon sale of that property, the statement said.
“There is not close to $500,000 due,” he said.
“Unlike my parents, I trust the court process to resolve the disputed aspects, after my parents refused to undertake arbitration, also in breach of the agreement.
“Neither my wife nor I own any property ourselves.”
It’s not Gilmore’s first money-related dispute. Last year, Gilmore’s $260,000 claim against his landlord backfired with him being ordered to fork out $11,000 in costs, with a judge calling his claim “wholly unmeritorious.”
Clarification: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the High Court had extended the payment deadline several times. The payments are simply overdue. Also, while the initial loan agreement in 2018 listed Aaron Gilmore as the borrower, in February 2019 the borrower under the loan changed to the Mighty Rocket Trust – of which Aaron Gilmore is the trustee.