COUNCILLOR ATTACKS QUAKE VICTIMS

One of the very last things that quake victims need is to be criticised by people who are supposed to be representing and promoting their interests.

But that's exactly what Christchurch councillor Aaron Keown has done.

Keown, who is one of two councillors for the Shirley-Papanui ward, has attacked quake victims in the badly hit eastern suburbs for 'whining for not being helped'.

And despite the fact that east side residents have been organising such things as meal centres and community barbecues, Keown has claimed that the residents are 'badly organised and cannot cope without help from authorities.'

Many east side residents are still without power, water and sewerage nearly a fortnight after the quake hit.

Keown, on the other hand , is enjoying all these amenities in his home.

He is former parliamentary candidate for the ACT Party and a supporter of Mayor Sideshow Bob.

Keown, who is one of the 'lock them away and throw away the key' brigade, was arrested in 1997 for making a hoax bomb call.

He pulled the stunt at the South City Mall, where he sometimes worked as a hairdresser during the weekends.

The mall was evacuated.

Keown didn't own up that he had made the call but was arrested a fortnight later. He was charged under the Misuse of Telecommunications Act. He received diversion and fined $500.

In 2006 his mother. Laureen Reilly, was convicted of benefit fraud.

She received home detention for receiving an overpayment of $157,000 in invalid and sickness benefits between 1990 and 2005.

The Ministry of Social Development alleged Reilly was living in a marriage-style relationship when claiming the benefits, and buying two properties with her son, Aaron.

Keown told The Press: "I don't see how it's relevant to me. She got her sentence and served it, so it's really interesting that these people are dredging it up. Is that not what they call muckraking?"

His mother was killed in May 2008, when a car in which she was a passenger was hit by a boy racer.