According to the returns, Arbuckle, a first-term and list MP, spent the most at $25,098. <\/p>\n
Bennett, a Labour list MP and the party\u2019s chief whip, spent $21,349.<\/p>\n
Fleming, the National MP for Maungakiekie, spent $20,931.<\/p>\n
Responding to the figures, spokespeople from all three parties noted MPs\u2019 responsibilities extend beyond attending Parliament. <\/p>\n
The period also includes an annual away caucus held by most parties, and annual Waitangi Day celebrations in Northland. <\/p>\n
The travel spending spree<\/p>\n
The parties of all three MPs were asked to explain the spending. <\/p>\n
An NZ First spokesperson noted that being based in Marlborough, Arbuckle is expected to travel frequently across the South Island and elsewhere. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe responsibilities and expectations placed on our [list] MPs is much different to if they held electorate seats. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect them to constantly travel around the entire country as an NZ First representative and spokesperson in their roles and not just [be] isolated to their electorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt must be noted that all travel costs are processed and presented by Parliamentary Travel and no concerns of cost or application have been raised with any NZ First MP.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bennett, a Labour list MP based in New Plymouth, said flying regionally is expensive. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith the reduction in Air New Zealand services, it\u2019s actually really expensive to get anywhere from the regions. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at all the highest people, generally it\u2019s people from the regions who come in higher.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his role as Labour\u2019s tourism and hospitality spokesman requires him to travel, including for tourism events in Queenstown, which can be expensive when flying from other provincial areas. <\/p>\n
Despite living in New Plymouth, Bennett has been selected as the party\u2019s Coromandel candidate. <\/p>\n
Asked if he has used his parliamentary budget to travel for the purposes of campaigning in the region, he said he hasn\u2019t. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I go there, generally I do it off my own back.\u201d <\/p>\n
A Labour spokesperson said: \u201cWe monitor Labour MPs\u2019 spending and are satisfied it balances the requirements of MPs with the responsible use of parliamentary resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third-highest spending MP, Greg Fleming, has no roles as a spokesman. <\/p>\n
The Auckland-based National MP for Maungakiekie spent $20,931 in the first three months of the year. <\/p>\n
Comparing this to other Auckland-based National MPs, Paulo Garcia spent just over $11,000, Melissa Lee spent $10,900 and Nancy Lu spent just under $14,000. <\/p>\n
Asked to explain the expense, a National Party spokesperson said Fleming is a hard-working MP. <\/p>\n
\u201cDuring this period, Mr Fleming was called on to represent his colleagues at several events requiring short-notice travel bookings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although travel, accommodation and expenses sums are declared, the Parliamentary Service remains one of the few public bodies exempt from the Official Information Act. <\/p>\n
This means that unlike ministers, MPs aren\u2019t required to publicly disclose receipts, statements or itineraries.<\/p>\n
In fourth place was Labour MP Ingrid Leary, MP for the Otago seat of Taieri, who spent just under $20,000. <\/p>\n
Former Labour list MP Peeni Henare, who retired from politics in mid-March, spent $18,379. He was based in Auckland. <\/p>\n
Two Green Party list MPs come next: Huhana Lyndon, based in Northland, and Scott Willis, based in Otago, spent roughly $17,500 each. <\/p>\n
Former Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori and now independent MP Takuta Ferris spent $17,367 on travel, although he is responsible for the largest electorate in the country.<\/p>\n
His seat, Te Tai Tonga, covers Wellington and the entire South Island. <\/p>\n
Ethan Griffiths is a political reporter with Newstalk ZB, based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. He joined NZME as a print journalist in 2020, previously working as an Open Justice reporter in the Bay of Plenty and Wellington, and as a general reporter in Whanganui.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to the returns, Arbuckle, a first-term and list MP, spent the most at $25,098. Bennett, a Labour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[46871,250427,208707,806,26695,127,14736,1888,2082,5511,3234,130,17318,111,43,139,69,1523,24637,133689,250428,37451,131,1361,1529,2044,274,810,4518,379],"class_list":["post-501475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-46871","tag-20000plus","tag-accumulated","tag-as","tag-bills","tag-despite","tag-domestic","tag-first","tag-for","tag-just","tag-months","tag-more","tag-mps","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-over","tag-parliament","tag-racked","tag-sat","tag-sitting","tag-than","tag-that","tag-three","tag-time","tag-travel","tag-up","tag-weeks","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}