KEY POINTS:
Politicians have increased by 12 per cent their budgets for running offices and for research and other jobs.
The $1.77 million taxpayer-funded increase for member support was recommended by Parliament's appropriations review committee and approved by Cabinet. It was not publicly announced.
Member support includes costs of running an office at Parliament - including secretaries, research units, advisers and other support staff - plus the running costs of electorate offices for constituent and list MPs.
The increase included an allowance for the "leader's budget" of each party. This can be used for various purposes, including communicating a party's policies to the public - but not electioneering.
The increase of $1.77 million takes taxpayers' contributions to $15,833,524 for party budgets. The figure does not include funding for broadcast advertisements in election campaigns, or funding for ministerial offices, which comes from a separate budget.
The Press newspaper reported that the committee also recommended increases in "leadership" funding per party of $50,000 and in "leaders" budgets by $7144 to $64,320 for every MP who is not a member of the Government executive. Research and whips' budgets also rose $2000 an MP.
National, with no executive members and 48 MPs, benefits the most from the changes, its taxpayer funding increasing $688,000 to almost $7 million. Labour gets $519,864 more, to $5.4 million. NZ First gets an extra $128,000, the Greens another $123,000 and the Maori Party $105,616 more.
United Future gets $68,936 more, but losing Gordon Copeland cost it $177,000. As an independent, his funding rises $3032 to $40,932.
Act's funding is up $76,000 to $377,832. Jim Anderton's one-member Progressive Party gets $56,760 more, or a total of $186,000. Taito Phillip Field, now an independent, gets $4760 more as a constituency MP.
MPs' salaries were increased in December between 3.8 and 4.1 per cent.
Funding for constituent MPs has increased $4760 to $64,260 and for list MPs by $3032 to $40,932.
The leader's budget was a bone of contention at the last election. The Auditor-General found parties illegally spent $1.17 million during the 2005 campaign.
- NZPA
