Parliamentary Perks .

There are many comments about the perks that the MPs get and despite a full three-year term attack on such privileges by Rodney Hide the self claimed perk buster from ACT , little has changed

The cost of Parliament

Do you know the costs for this circus are quite horrendous - a circus because one session per week listening to Parliament should be compulsory . For the year ending 1997 the costs were

Index of topics: Ordinary MPs' costs
: PM and Cabinet costs
: Full extent of perks
: Former MPs'perks; MPs workload

For MPs without portfolio - the ordinary MP

Salaries & allowances	10,414,000
Communications	3,610,000
MPs & spouses travel	5,817,000
Secretarial services	13,710,000
Bellamys	2,598,000
Library services	5,436,000
Building & operation	17,139,000
Accounting costs	404,000
Electorate support	1,691,000
Party & members support	5,929,000
Subsidy to superannuation	5,018,000
less revenue third party Bellamys	1,345,000
Total for 100 MPs	$70,421,000

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For the Prime Minister & Cabinet

Executive Council & Ministers	3,606,000
Travel internal & external	7,970,000
Transport services	5,914,000
Support services to Ministers	24,839,000
Advisors to PM & Cabinet	18,976,000
Total for 24 Cabinet members	$67,305,000

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The full extent of PM perks .

The above just indicates the salaries and services that the MPs get but as most of these costs are directly consumed by the MPs they in effect supplement their income.
There is much talk about the level of remuneration paid to our politicians especially by commentators who always seem to excuse the poor performance of some of our MPs by the all embracing philosophy that " If you pay peanuts you get monkeys " .
Do we really pay these people peanuts as they would have you believe?
But does our PM really get a mere $204,000 , our cabinet Ministers $139,000 and the ordinary MP $80,000 - the figures using private enterprise calculations for the full value of remuneration and its cost to a private company reveal otherwise .

All are paid

a constituency allowance of up to $20,000 ,
superannuation which is a provision of $1.33 for every $1.00 paid by MP up to 8% of salary ,
travel or day allowance of $6000
plus a night allowance of $8,000 ,
expenses up to $7000 for ordinary MPs , with Ministers more .

Add to this phone rentals , toll calls , phonecards , smartphone , cellphone , sky TV, internet access as a package for information dispersal .

Also unlimited domestic travel averaging $8500 , taxi fares averaging $6500 and international airfares 50% subsidy of $3500 , allowances for children travel $2300 with rail , ferry , bus allowance of $240 hardly worth mentioning .

Finally to make life less stressful subsidised meals at Bellamy's averaging $1000 , indoor car parking and indoor swimming pool and gym $2600..

These various perks are determined by a Commission who is required to consider the pay of similar private enterprise positions but just how do you compare unlimited air travel , a 24 hr limousine service , unlimited Cook Strait Ferry travel . Putting all these together our PM total salary and perks $569,608 , Cabinet Ministers $456,028 - 468,028 and the ordinary MPs $147,884 - 159,884
which is quite different to the figures that frequently quoted .

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Former MPs spouses perks .

The international travel expense for spouses of former MPs increased to more than $400,000 . We must wonder why these spouses , and indeed the former MPs themselves , can enjoy this at taxpayers' expense . The total international travel expenses for former MPs and their spouses was $653,353 in 1996/97 and $794,965 in 1997/98 - exactly why we should be supporting these ex MPs is beyond me but you may think differently .
Certainly my previous employer doesn't provide me with free travel and I doubt whether anyone elses does .

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The workload for a three year term.

The Forty-fifth Parliament 1996-1999 had the following statistics.

Days of meeting 221
Hours of sitting 1768.48 including 540.98 hours beyond normal sitting hours.
Bills passed 371
Petitions presented and referred to select committees 2070
Questions for oral answer 2625
Questions for written answer 39,345
Reports of select committees

Presented to the House.

Business	5
Commerce	83
Committee on Accident Insurance Bill	1
Committee on Local Government Bill	1
Committee on Local Producers	3
Education and Science	98
Electoral Law	9
Finance and Expenditure	63
Foreign affairs Defence and Trade	67
Government Administration	95
Health	176
Internal affairs and Local Government	82
Justice and Law Reform	96
Maori Affairs	17
Officers of Parliament	5
Primary Production	69
Privileges	6
Regulation Review	28
Social Services	86
Standing Orders	2
Transport and environment	109.

Not much of a workload for three years is it not ?

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