Southern MPs racking up the travel expenses, figures show
CLUTHASOUTHLAND MP Hamish Walker has the secondhighest nonministerial spend between April and June this year.
Parliamentary Services released MP expenses for the three months yesterday, following a leak of National Party leader Simon Bridge’s expenses on Monday.
Mr Bridges topped the spending on $113,973 and Mr Walker, elected in September last year following the resignation of former
CluthaSouthland MP Todd Barclay, was in second place, spending $39,387.
New Zealand First’s Mark Patterson, also serving the CluthaSouthland electorate, was close behind on $37,778, while Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean spent $34,796.
Mr Walker said he had been working ‘‘extremely hard’’ for the people he was representing, based in the second largest general electorate in the country — spending, on average, eight to 10 nights a month at his Dunedin home.
‘‘During the last two week recess I travelled more than 4500km, visiting 25 different communities in the electorate.
‘‘It’s important to me that I get face to face time with people right across the elector ate to hear their concerns, whether they’re in Gore, Queenstown, Lumsden or Winton.’’
MPs racked up a total of $2.1 million on travel and accommodation expenses in the period.
However, details for many MPs have not been divulged — and the sum does not include spending by Government ministers, either.
Spending on accommodation and surface and air travel by Labour MPs totalled $494,690 for the AprilJune 2018 quarter.
Figures for ministers, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, are released separately by the Department of Internal Affairs.
The department said yesterday the information was not being released at the same time, as is normal practice.
Yesterday’s figures reveal a total threemonth spend of $2,110,474.
This figure is higher than the $1,493,715 spent in the JanuaryMarch period.
National Party MPs racked up $1.4 million in the quarter. That includes $26,271 spending by former prime minister Sir William English.
Among the Greens, only four of the eight MPs’ expenses were included, totalling $80,871.
Of the nine New Zealand First MPs, the data for four, including leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was not included.
The remaining five spent
$103,613. — NZME