Do you have information on how your MP spends your money on accommodation, travel and other expenses?
Email the Herald on Sunday
Last week Act and the Greens promised to break with a century of Parliamentary secrecy by disclosing their travel and accommodation expenses. This week they delivered.
Act leader Rodney Hide made his name as a "perkbuster", trimming costs for the taxpayer - so the pressure was on for full disclosure. The fact that his $29,501 in travel for the past six months is tracking higher than most other MPs in Act or the Greens might, then, appear a little embarrassing.
But as both a minister and leader, he is required to travel more. He also notes that he does not take up his entitlement to a chauffeured limo in Auckland, instead driving his tiny Smart car.
The other four Act MPs' expenses are notable for the tiny amounts they are claiming on accommodation in Wellington: even the highest claim, from Sir Roger Douglas, works out at only $682 a month - far short of the $2000 to which he is entitled.
Act MPs still haven't disclosed how they spend their $14,800 miscellaneous expenses top-ups.
Verdict: When Act MPs talk about cutting public spending, they are pretty much walking the talk.
Green Party MP Metiria Turei's airfares for the first four months of the year cost $18,968 - highest of the nine Green MPs - even though she had not yet been appointed co-leader.
Her use of taxis and rental cars, at the cost of $7384, is high. She is en route to spend nearly $80,000 on travel in 12 months - more than Hide's $60,000.
But her claims for Wellington accommodation are lower than two Green MPs: Catherine Dela- hunty and former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons. Those two MPs, from East Coast and Coromandel, are claiming the maximum $2000 a month - multiplying to $24,000 a year. Green MPs still haven't disclosed how they spend their $14,800 expenses top-ups.
Verdict: As environmentalists, the Greens should lead by example, especially on flights. Must improve.
