Key pays to take wife along

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Prime Minister John Key has defended ministers taking their partners on overseas trips at taxpayers' expense, but says he would not do so.

Yesterday, Key defended three ministers who recently used their parliamentary travel subsidy to take their partners on taxpayer-funded overseas trips.

This year, Key asked his Cabinet not to use ministerial funding to take their partners with them on trips, but some ministers are getting around this by using the travel discount they receive as longstanding MPs.

ACT leader and Local Government Minister Rodney Hide recently took his partner on a $25,000 around-the-world trip accompanying him on official business, and ministers David Carter and Peter Dunne have taken their wives on official trips.

Key said he did not believe the ministers were deliberately flouting his orders, as the Government was not paying for the trips – Parliament was. However, he accepted that either way, the taxpayer ended up footing most of the bill.

The system was now more transparent, he said.

"Any member that chooses to use their travel discount to take their spouse must do so in the knowledge that it will become public information, and they need to be able to stack that up with the general public."

Key said he was not unhappy with his ministers' decision to use the perk, but said he would not do so.

He said he always paid for his wife, Bronagh, and their two children when they travelled with him.

He paid for his wife's recent visit to Tokyo, despite the fact she was attending in an official capacity.

"My wife had a very good relationship with the Prime Minister of Japan's wife and I think it will benefit New Zealand, but in the final analysis I personally feel more comfortable paying those expenses myself."

Asked why, Key said: "I think it would be difficult for me to justify, with my independent financial means, that somehow the taxpayers of New Zealand should be paying for me to take my family on holiday."

He said he did not take other entitlements, such as a self-drive car or a fuel card, but he was not trying to set an example for other MPs.

"You don't want 120 MPs who have the financial independence to be able to make the decisions that I make," he said. "That wouldn't be the House of Representatives. You actually need people from all walks of life."

Key said he had no plans to lift the ban on official ministerial spousal travel, and any changes to the travel discount for MPs was a matter for the Speaker and Parliamentary Service.

"Parliament, at some stage, needs to reflect whether that is an outdated practice or not."

Hide said last night he would think twice before using the perk again because of the fuss it had created.

He said he would support scrapping the perk.

Hide said it was "a fair cop" to accuse him of hypocrisy, but others were using the entitlement he helped pay for.

- © Fairfax NZ News