NZ Herald
data journalist Chris Knox has crunched the numbers.
He told The Front Page it is important to understand how such property ownership might impact MPs’ decision-making.
“It’s something Parliament recognises as being important by making MPs declare what they have, but they don’t actually ask them to declare what it’s worth.
“So we decided to take it that step further and find out,” he said.
The National Party MP for Rangitīkei, Suze Redmayne, tops the list with a property portfolio worth about $24m, most of which is a large farm valued at about $18m.
“Interestingly enough, she took office after Ian McKelvie retired, and he was the previous top.
“So, obviously, farms in that area are clearly worth quite a bit of money,” Knox said.
Luxon had the most significant residential property assets.
“If you take out farms, he would have been at the top.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
The use of trusts for property ownershipTransparency and disclosure regimes Potential for conflicts of interest.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.