$373,700 travel bill for spouses of ex-MPs

THE spouses of former MPs have clocked up $373,729 in taxpayerfunded travel – more than the former MPs themselves spent.

And taxpayers are still stumping up for travel by the husband of former Cabinet minister Pansy Wong, who quit Parliament in 2010 after allegations involving Sammy Wong’s use of her parliamentary travel perk.

Figures released by Parliamentary Service show most former MPs and their spouses made use of the travel perk, with several spending more than $10,000 on international travel in the last financial year alone.

They include former Labour MPs Michael Bassett, Harry Duynhoven and Sir Thomas (Kerry) Burke, former Speaker and National MP Sir Lockwood Smith, and former ACT MP Sir Roger Douglas (previously a Labour finance minister).

Their spouses, Judith Bassett, Margaret Duynhoven, Lady Fahimeh Rastar Burke, Lady Alexandra Smith and Lady Glennis Douglas, also clocked up $10,000-plus bills.

Peter Kaiser, the civil union partner of former Labour MP Chris Carter, incurred $10,888 in travel expenses. There was controversy while Carter was a minister over his steep travel bill, which included trips taken with Kaiser.

The list shows the total cost of the travel perk for former MPs and their spouses was $1.117 million, which included $342,507 on travel by former MPs, $373,729 on travel by the spouses and partners of former MPs, $18,137 in reimbursements for travel in the previous year, and fringe benefit taxes of $383,250.

The travel perk for former MPs and their spouses – since phased out – pays up to 90 per cent of the cheapest return business class flight to London each year, depending on the length of service.

They also get up to 12 taxpayerpaid domestic return flights a year.