A former Labour List MP who worked closely with others to expose a spending scandal around the Waikato DHB's former chief executive, Nigel Murray, says the whole debacle could have been prevented if a simple reference check had been made to his former employer. A State Services Commission report into Dr Nigel Murray's spending during his three years in the job has found that more that half of spending claims worth just over $218,000 were unjustified. Sue Moroney told RNZ reporter Andrew McRae the DHB and its chair really fell down on the job.