Speaker Lockwood Smith is going in the wrong direction by removing some of the transparency in the use of subsidised international travel by MPs, the Green Party says.
Dr Smith said on Friday the international travel rebates claimed by MPs would now be made public quarterly as a bulk amount, rather than individually.
He said the approach was being taken because the cost of that travel was effectively funded by MPs, with set amounts annually coming out of their overall salary package for the purpose.
Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said the new disclosure rules ultimately provided less transparency over how taxpayer's money was used and was a step in the wrong direction.
``The system needs to progress towards more transparency -- not less,'' she said.
Ms Turei said there should be an independent review undertaken with the aim of providing genuine transparency and simplicity to the system.
``Salary and expenses must be separated, but the Speaker refuses to consider how this should be done.''
She said travel expenses should be for work-related travel, and remuneration should be provided through a salary. ``Mixing the two up creates confusion and perverse incentives.''
Remuneration Authority figures show $1,176,812 was deducted from salaries for international air travel in the 2009/10 year, and $432,989 in expenditure on rebates. For the first quarter of the 2010/1011 year those figures were $294,203 and $76,589.
Dr Smith said while the public wouldn't know which individuals were claiming what, it would be his responsibility to keep an eye on it.
``I've tried to bring integrity to my role as Speaker, and I expect ministers to bring integrity to their work in the House,'' he said.
He said he disagreed with suggestions the travel rebate was a perk, and had been troubled by what he considered to be a lack of integrity in the information released under the original system.
Prime Minister John Key said he agreed with the notion that MPs were effectively paying for the subsidy scheme themselves, but would personally prefer it if individual MPs' travel spending was made public.
Having opened the figures up to the public there was a risk the latest move could be seen as a reversal of that transparency, he said.
``Once the genie is out of the bottle it's hard to put it back in.''
Mr Key said future changes to remuneration for MPs were likely, and could include converting the travel allowance to cash.
Greens oppose changes to MP expenses disclosure
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