MPs’ domestic travel costs hit $3.4m in nine months
Wednesday, 7 January 2026
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Taxpayers are forking out more than $1 million every three months on MPs’ domestic travel, with some minor parties racking up bigger bills than the coalition partners.
Figures show that in the nine months to September 30, 2025, MPs — excluding ministers — spent $3,429,383 on internal travel, covering domestic flights and surface transport such as self‑drives, taxis, rental cars and ride‑hail services.
Ministers, meanwhile, spent a total of $1.86m on domestic travel across the same period.
MPs’ expenses are published on the Parliamentary website every three months, while ministers’ expenses are released by the Department of Internal Affairs each quarter.
A breakdown of expenses reveals that in the last published quarter - to September - MPs spent $1,188,926 on internal travel, and just slightly more than that ‒$1,189,758 ‒ across the previous three months. The bill for the January to March quarter totalled $1,050,699.
Nine months of VIP travel for Opposition leader Chris Hipkins and speaker Gerry Brownlee came to $50,218.
The $227,180 international travel bill for MPs from all parties was made up of $35,195 in the first quarter of 2025, $78,821 in the second quarter and $113,164 in the third. Cabinet-approved international travel for ministers for January to September 30 topped $1.8m.
Leading the way
Top spenders (not including ministers) on domestic travel from each party were: Hūhana Lyndon (Green) $75,291; Jo Luxton (Labour) $66,430; Rawiri Waititi (Te Pāti Māori) $59,618; Paulo Garcia (National) $51,928; Tākuta Ferris (Independent) $49,637; ACT’s Laura McClure $48,857 and New Zealand First’s Jamie Arbuckle $48,547.
Unsurprisingly PM Christopher Luxon racked up the Government’s highest internal travel bill, spending $112,611 when it came to ministerial expenses. Police Minister Mark Mitchell was second with $89,441.
The biggest spenders from ACT and NZ First between January and September 2025 were ACT leader and deputy prime minister David Seymour with a total of $57,261 while NZ First’s Shane Jones, notched up $82,313 in domestic air and surface travel.
Alongside travel, MPs and ministers based outside of Wellington can now claim an annual accommodation allowance of between $39,200 and $54,856. It can cover costs like mortgage interest and rent, though the rules also allow for hotels and “flat” sharing.
A Green Party spokesperson said travel was a reality for MPs who “work hard, especially for those who live in the regions. Voters expect to see and engage with MPs around the country and the Green MPs all have portfolios with national responsibilities.
“In some other parties, travel might just be between an MP’s home and Wellington. The Green Party has a long-standing policy of investing in nationwide rapid rail for passengers and freight. Until such low-carbon transport options exist in Aotearoa NZ, our MPs will continue to offset all carbon miles travelled in the course of working with and for their communities.”
MPs’ domestic travel expenses did not include those for Ministerial purposes, so the overall expenses of governing parties would, on average, be “lower than The Green Party/ Labour/ Te Pāti Māori”, they said.
A Labour spokesperson said travel budgets of its MPs were monitored.“We are satisfied with the balance of travel requirements and fiscal responsibility.”
Meanwhile the Taxpayers’ Union has this week released a paper looking at MPs’ travel, transport and accommodation expenses across the 21 months from January 2024 to September 2025. It found nearly $15m in Parliamentary Service funding had been spent in that time.
The highest individual spender was Te Pāti Māori's Rawiri Waititi at $273,681. The second was Labour list MP Damien O’Connor on $211,592. Rounding out the top five were Hūhana Lyndon ($246,979); Debbie Ngarewa-Packer ($196,540); and Chris Hipkins ($183,617).
Labour, with 34 MPs, recorded $5.49 m in spending, the largest share of any party, while National, with 31 MPs, recorded $5m.
The Greens recorded $2.18m in total costs, ACT spent $781,435, and NZ First $452,392. TPM spent $1.025m, just under 85% of ACT and NZ First’s combined total, despite having fewer MPs drawing on Parliamentary Service funding, the paper said.
A total of just under $24m has been allocated for members' salaries and allowances for the 2025/26 financial year, while just under $5m has been set aside for members of Parliament and others travel. Accommodation of members and travel for members’ families has been allocated $6m and travel for qualifying former members of Parliament is expected to cost just over $1m.
October to December expenses are usually published in February.
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