And while $70 a week may seem a lot to many people living here, it really isn't much when compared to an MP's wage, so we shouldn't gripe. They'll barely notice it.
So all we can do is hope our leaders enjoy these little gifts of admiration from us and that they will now be more attentive to our needs.
They will be grateful for the public largesse and listen even more intently to our concerns about the plight of the country.
For example, had they got the extra dosh before last week the Government may well have waited a little longer before selling off 20 per cent of Air NZ ... waited until after we'd officially had our say in the national referendum on asset sales, that is.
And had we been even more generous last year John Key and Co may have taken the moral high ground and paid compensation to the families of the Pike River miners.
The Government doesn't need to but I think most of us would agree it is the right thing to do, considering the failures of government authorities over safety.
Maybe I'm sailing in my own little dreamworld here ...
Which reminds me, isn't the weather just perfect for having a float about on the ocean blue?
Fair go, when I saw those tiny Greenpeace vessels bobbing about off the west coast I thought I could handle that for a few weeks. Sun, sea ... a giant oil-drilling vessel and the threat of arrest.
See, if we'd paid the MPs more they wouldn't have got so grumpy over people voicing their opinions.
They wouldn't have fast-tracked Nazi-like legislation that bans people from protesting within 500 metres of drilling ships.
Although it seems, despite our generosity, members of the Government have no sense of humour when it comes to the deep-sea oil drilling.
We won't mention our local MP's appearance on Campbell Live, defending drilling off the whale haven of Kaikoura.
Having been whale-watching in that wonderful little part of New Zealand, I am in awe of what the local community has done down there. They have created a tourist industry from nothing and I'm sure the last thing they want is to put all their hard work and futures at risk just so someone else can make huge profits.
Another minister who probably needs more public money is Environment Minister Amy Adams.
Then she wouldn't need to play Secret Squirrel with a deep-sea drilling risk analysis report that a fair few people would be interested in.
Opposition leader David (I'm party boss at last) Cunliffe raised statistics in the study that suggest there is a higher level of danger in exploration than the Government is letting us know about.
The minister was also challenged in Parliament about whether the Environmental Protection Authority assessed the response plan that oil driller Anadarko submitted as part of its application for an exploratory well in Taranaki.
Ms Adams said the EPA only had to assess the "completeness" of an application and not its effectiveness.
Which, to my mind, is politician-speak for "No."
I make no secret of being opposed to deep-sea oil drilling off New Zealand's coasts for what I regard as being some fairly good reasons.
The main one is New Zealand authorities have continually proved themselves inept and ill-prepared when it comes to dealing with major hazards.
We in the Bay were presented damning evidence of this with the Rena.
When 300 tonnes of oil washed ashore it created mayhem as bureaucrats ran around like headless chooks, trying to work out what to do.
Imagine the scenario if an oil well blew and started discharging 16,000 tonnes of oil a day.
Oh yes, the Government and Anadarko say there is equipment to deal with such an occurrence - but it is at least two weeks away.
You can do the maths on the amount of oil flow destroying our seas over that period.
The other great worry is that if an accident should happen we could not afford the clean-up.
So any explorer should deposit hundreds of millions of dollars into a NZ bank account to deal with anything that may occur.
And they should be massively insured as well.
But no, our Government will waive sensible precautions because an overseas company is waving the lure of money under their snouts.
I'm afraid our $70 a week can't match the vested interests.
Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.
richard@richardmoore.com
