A car rental scandal has occurred in the Australasia country of Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has said that he will look into the scandal and what could be a conflict of interest.

The claims of impropriety were made by a senior member of the Papua New Guinea opposition parliament, Mr Sam Basil.

Mr Basil alleged that in the year 2007 Papua New Guinea’s police department hired cars from Mountain Hire Cars to use on their special operations in the Papua New Guinea highlands, and that this money went to internal security minister Sani Rambi.

Mr Rambi has admitted owning the car hire company and receiving more than $500,000 dollars in payments, while being owed a further quarter of a million dollars by the police.

The minister is a member of Sir Michael Somare’s ruling National Alliance party.

Elsewhere in Australasia a motorist made an expensive mistake when he tried to rent his car out after struggling to keep up with the car loan payments.

But Lawrence Yong Shao Ping did not realise that he was actually renting the car out illegally as he did not have adequate car insurance to do so. He had let the car be used by Starzfocus 2 Rental Enterprise who offered to pay his $800 monthly instalments in return for hiring the car.

The error has cost him $500 dollars and landed him with a year long driving ban. Mr Ping got off lightly because his legal council managed to argue that Mr Ping thought Starzfocus was ‘fully aware and conversant and in compliance with the laws, rules and regulations relating to the motor trade and motor rental business'.