Chiefs' big ticket travel spend

Seven public sector bosses have each spent more than $100,000 on overseas travel in the past two years.

The Herald on Sunday requested the travel expenses of the chief executives of the 100-plus government departments, Crown entities and state-owned enterprises subject to the Official Information Act.

Expenses were defined as flights, accommodation, meals and any other associated costs incurred between July 2007 and June this year. Most of the bills were paid by the taxpayer.

The top spender was Martyn Dunne, chief executive of the New Zealand Customs Service, whose international travel expenses were almost $154,000.

The expenses of another six bosses topped $100,000 - Ashley Smout from Airways New Zealand, Dr Don Elder from Solid Energy, Chief Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae from the New Zealand Defence Force, Dr Andrew McKenzie from the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, Karen Sewell from the Ministry of Education and Tim Gibson from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

A further 22 chief executives spent more than $50,000 over the two-year period.

We asked the top spenders to justify their expenses - mostly paid for by the taxpayer - and asked whether they flew business or economy class. Most said they travelled business class on long-haul flights only and only one took their spouse.

Customs said much of Dunne's travel was in his capacity as chairman of the World Customs Organisation.

A spokesman said the role had given New Zealand "a significant opportunity to influence the development of global Customs standards".

Ashley Smout said Airways New Zealand, an air navigation services provider, did not receive any taxpayer funding.

His wife accompanied him to the annual meeting of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, of which he is chairman, and Airways paid her fare.

Elder, chief executive of state-owned enterprise Solid Energy, which exports coal, said he would have been surprised if his travel expenses had not been in the top five.

"We are the only significant exporting state-owned enterprise," he said.

"Well over half our revenue is from exports and as part of my job I need to stay in regular contact with all our major customers and stay on top of a range of issues and developments in the international market environment."

As Chief of Defence, Mateparae travelled overseas to strengthen ties with other military organisations, to see deployed forces and for commemorative occasions, said a Defence Force spokesman.

Trips to multiple locations were often combined to save money and Mateparae travelled on military aircraft whenever possible.

A Food Safety Authority spokeswoman said McKenzie's travel involved a number of international meetings for food safety organisations.

Such get-togethers built confidence in the New Zealand food safety system and boosted "market access opportunities", she said.

She also said part of the cost was not taxpayer-funded because it was "recovered by agreement from industry through charges on services".

A Ministry of Education spokeswoman said Sewell's travel was taken to "support our export education industry, to learn from other countries' strategies for education and to respond to requests for a New Zealand perspective in relation to education issues".

She travelled business class for flights longer than four hours.

Gibson said the costs were necessary because Trade and Enterprise was a "global organisation" with 37 offices worldwide. He travelled premium economy class where available, as did staff.

A Trade and Enterprise spokeswoman said there were "tight protocols" around travel expenses and an increased use of video conferencing had reduced travel costs.

Executive recruitment specialist Barry Dreyer, of Fleet & Partners, thought all the bosses' roles would require a lot of travel.

"None of the private sector executives travel first class and most only travel business if the flight's eight hours or more."

A spokesman for the State Services Commission - which oversees government organisations but not state-owned enterprises - said the commissioner, Iain Rennie, had been "consistent in his expectations that the state sector show restraint in the current fiscal environment".

But the spokesman said Rennie recognised chief executives often had "obligations" to meet "counterparts in other jurisdictions" and it was "important that New Zealand is represented".