Taxpayers fund millions in travel for wealthy ex-MPs and widows

Saturday, 13 June 2026

Taxpayers have spent around $6 million over the past decade subsidising travel for retired politicians and their spouses, including overseas business-class flights years after recipients left public office.

The little-known entitlement, available only to MPs who entered Parliament before 1999, allows former politicians and their partners to claim taxpayer-funded rebates on domestic and international travel for the rest of their lives. In some cases, the subsidy continues even after the former MP has died, with widows and widowers able to keep claiming travel costs decades later.

The cost of the scheme is growing even as the pool of eligible recipients shrinks. Last year it cost an estimated $1.5 million, the highest total in the past decade, largely due to rising airfares. Last month’s Budget increased funding for the coming year to $1.6 million.

Eligible recipients can claim rebates on up to 12 domestic return flights each year and one international return airfare, capped at the value of Air New Zealand's lowest-cost business-class return fare between Auckland and London on July 1. Inter-city rail and inter-island ferry travel can also be subsidised.

The size of the rebate depends on length of service. Former MPs who completed three parliamentary terms receive a 60 percent subsidy; those who served five terms qualify for 90 percent.

For recipients who make full use of the scheme, the subsidy is typically worth between $10,000 and $20,000 a year.

The major recipients

Among the largest beneficiaries are former MPs with successful business careers outside politics.

Former National cabinet minister Philip Burdon and his wife, Rosalind, have claimed more than $200,000 through the scheme since 2014, making them the largest identified beneficiaries. They have received travel subsidies every year over that period.

Burdon served five terms as MP for Fendalton and qualifies for the maximum 90% rebate. After leaving politics, he returned to business and remains a director of Meadow Mushrooms, which he co-founded in 1970. The National Business Review estimated the Burdon family’s wealth at $95 million in 2019.

Burdon told The Press the entitlement was 'generous' but said it had formed part of the remuneration package available to MPs during their parliamentary careers.

He said the argument against claiming it could be applied to other state entitlements, including pensions. Choosing not to claim such entitlements could be seen as a form of posturing.

“Of course you can be morally superior and say that you're not going to use them,” he said.

“There is always a danger, if you decide not to accept them, of a certain amount of moral arrogance that can be seen as slightly judgmental of your fellow colleagues.”

He said the debate around parliamentary perks was legitimate, but any decision to alter the scheme should rest with the independent body responsible for setting parliamentary remuneration.

The next-largest beneficiaries are former Speaker Sir Lockwood Smith and his wife, Alexandra, who have claimed about $175,000 since 2014. Former Labour minister Chris Carter and his husband, Peter Kaiser, have claimed more than $165,000, while former ACT leader Richard Prebble and his partner, Ngahuia Wade, have claimed at least $150,000.

Sixteen couples have claimed more than $100,000 each over the past decade. Together they account for more than one-third of all spending under the scheme.

A long phase-out

The origins of the entitlement are unclear, although it appears to date back at least to the 1970s. In 1982, then-minister Bill Birch told a newspaper he did not know when it had first been introduced.

The subsidy has survived subsequent reviews of parliamentary pay and perks. During the last major overhaul in 2014, the National-led Government closed the scheme to future MPs while preserving it for those already covered.

More than a decade later, however, the expected decline in costs has yet to materialise. Taxpayers have spent about $1 million a year on the subsidy since detailed disclosures began in 2014, with only a temporary decline during the pandemic when international travel was restricted.

Earlier costs are harder to establish because the subsidy was bundled with broader parliamentary travel spending. However, a Sunday Star-Times report in 1994 estimated it was costing taxpayers about $500,000 a year — equivalent to roughly $1 million in today's dollars.

Although the number of eligible recipients has steadily declined, rising airfares have largely offset the reduction. Parliamentary Service this year secured additional funding for the scheme, citing higher travel costs.

Under current settings, the international travel subsidy available to a former MP who qualifies for the maximum rebate in the next year would be worth about $14,000 a year.

Spouses continue to benefit after MPs die

One unusual feature of the entitlement is that it can continue after a former MP dies.

Among the more active users is Noeline Colman, widow of former Labour MP Fraser Colman. She has claimed at least $80,000 in travel rebates since 2014, even though her husband left Parliament in 1987 and died in 2008.

The entitlement has continued even longer in some cases. Yvonne Riddiford claimed about $6000 in travel rebates in 2015 and 2016 through her late husband, former National MP and Attorney-General Dan Riddiford. He left Parliament in 1970 and died in 1972.

Lady Sandra Arthur claimed more than $5000 between 2014 and 2018 through the service of her late husband, former Speaker Sir Basil Arthur, who died in 1985.

Some former MPs continue to use the subsidy decades after leaving public office. Former National MP Tony Friedlander has claimed the entitlement every year since 2014 despite retiring from Parliament nearly four decades ago.

The longest gap between entering Parliament and claiming a travel rebate belongs to Bob Tizard, who was first elected in 1957. He claimed a rebate of $491 in 2015, almost six decades later.

Recipients span political divide

The scheme's recent recipients are overwhelmingly politicians whose parliamentary careers fell between 1970 and 1999, spanning the fourth Labour Government and the National administrations on either side.

Among the most prolific users are politicians central to the market reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. Former finance minister Sir Roger Douglas and his wife, Lady Glennis, have claimed at least $90,000 since 2014. Former Labour minister Michael Bassett and his wife, Judith, have claimed more than $115,000. Former ACT deputy leader Ken Shirley and his wife, Jenny, have claimed $110,000.

The scheme will eventually disappear as the pool of eligible recipients shrinks, but some current and recently retired politicians remain covered.

Winston Peters and his partner, Jan Trotman, claimed travel subsidies while Peters was out of Parliament between 2020 and 2023. Former Labour minister Nanaia Mahuta and her husband, William Ormsby, have claimed about $17,000 since becoming eligible. Former National minister Nick Smith and his wife, Linley, have claimed more than $50,000 since his departure from Parliament.

Among sitting and recently retired MPs, only Winston Peters, Damien O'Connor, David Parker and Gerry Brownlee would qualify for the entitlement upon retirement.