Cabinet reviews MPs' housing options

Bill English. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Cabinet will today canvass options for simplifying the rules covering housing allowances for ministers whose homes are outside Wellington in an attempt to stifle suggestions the perk is being exploited.

The Prime Minister, whose portfolio of ministerial services covers ministerial accommodation, instructed officials to review the rules after revelations Deputy Prime Minister Bill English was claiming $900 a week in accommodation allowances for staying in his $1.2 million family home.

John Key received the officials' report last week. One option, which has been rejected, would have seen the Crown buy enough houses to accommodate all government ministers. Those who did not want to live inone would receive the standardweekly accommodation allowance of $460.

Other options might include a scale of allowances and selling the remaining Crown-owned ministerial houses which can be sold. Some of the existing houses are deemed to be historically important or cannot be sold for security reasons or cannot be sold as they were donated to the Crown under trust deeds.

Meanwhile, backing for National in the polls appears not to have been damaged by the row over ministerial homes and the Prime Minister's refusal to implement the result of the smacking referendum.

The New Zealand Morgan poll released on Friday night shows the Government is still more popular than it was on election night.

The poll puts National on 56.5 per cent, up three points, and Labour down three points to 29.5 per cent.

On election night National won 44.9 per cent of the party vote and Labour 33.9 per cent. The poll of 860 voters was taken between August 17 and 30.