Labour releases MPs' expenses

Labour leader Phil Goff has released full details of his MPs' expenses for July, August and September, ignoring Speaker Lockwood Smith's decision to withhold the information.

The total is $741,568.

"I believe that MP expenses should be transparent and made public. I do not agree that some costs should be withheld. We all need to be accountable for the expenses we incur as we do our jobs as MPs," said Mr Goff in a Labour press release.

"That's why I'm releasing our full costs today. These show that international travel, spousal travel and personal domestic travel accounts for 8 per cent of Labour's total travel and accommodation expenses.

"As the Speaker has already noted, this amount has been deducted from MPs' salaries. But I'm concerned that withholding these figures creates an impression the cost is much higher than it actually is, so I've decided to release Labour's totals.

"I'm calling on all other party leaders to show the same commitment to transparency and to release the details of their MPs' expenses and for the Speaker to return to the former - and more transparent - form of release," Phil Goff said.

National leader John Key said Cabinet had yesterday unanimously agreed to do the same, making it likely National would follow suit. However, he wanted to discuss it with his caucus first.

Labour released the expenses after Speaker Lockwood Smith decided not to include any expenses that were not work-related in the quarterly releases.

He argued that such spending was personal because MPs had in effect paid for it themselves by taking lower salaries than they would otherwise get.

The decision means that the amounts spent on international travel rebates - which range from 25 to 90 per cent - will not be included.

Five per cent of the MPs' own domestic travel costs and 45 per cent of their partners' travel are now also held back from the expenses release because they are considered to be part of the entire remuneration package rather than a work expense.

The difference between the two sets of numbers makes it clear who used the international travel rebate for a major trip.

The travel expenses for Labour MPs Clayton Cosgrove, George Hawkins and Ross Robertson were all about $10,000 higher on the full release than that provided by the Speaker. A Labour spokesman confirmed they had used the rebate to help pay for a trip to China where they were guests of the Chinese government.

Of the Labour MPs' expenses, Mr Goff's are the highest, at $34,633, followed by Shane Jones at $28,566 and Clayton Cosgrove at $28,029.

Top spenders:

Phil Goff: $34,633
Shane Jones: $28,566
Clayton Cosgrove: $28,029
Ross Robertson: $27,830
Damien O'Connor: $25,878
George Hawkins: $25,117
Kelvin Davis: $24,140
Nanaia Mahuta: $22,829
Parekura Horomia: $21,788
Marian Street: $21,534