An independent report has again called on Parliament to better fund its MPs and their offices to match Aotearoa's growing population and diversity – but with the cost of living crisis hitting Kiwis, the Government may yet again kill off any change
A new report has recommended boosting politicians’ funding by about $6 million a year, saying MPs are being asked to do more with less as they face greater demands than ever.
However, it is unclear whether Parliament will adopt the changes, with Labour saying the cost of living crisis means “now is not the time” for increases.
The latest report of the appropriations review committee, which provides an assessment every three years of the amount of money appropriated by Parliament, has yet again called for greater funding to be pumped into the system.
“While MPs and parties are innovating in an environment of declining real funding and increasing real demand, funding is becoming a challenge to effective engagement and representation,” the report says.
Electorate MPs in the first MMP Parliament in 1996 represented around 55,700 people each, but by the start of the current Parliament that ratio had grown to roughly 70,700 for every electorate MP.
There had also been a significant increase in diversity over the same period, with 19 percent of Kiwis now identifying as Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American or African - compared to 5 percent in 1996.
“This increase in diversity creates extra demand for MPs. They need to engage with constituents in different languages, in culturally appropriate ways, and often across many parts of the country, to ensure they can effectively represent all people in New Zealand - all of which requires more time and resource.”
Despite those changing demands, the report says key funding streams for MPs and parties have declined by up to 20 percent in real terms over recent decades, meaning “for the most part MPs are doing more with less”.
The report proposes raising all MP funding allocations to close the gap to their 1996 levels by 25 percent, in what it describes as “a modest adjustment reflecting the current economic and fiscal conditions”.
It also suggests increasing the funding for list MPs to close the gap between them and electorate MPs by 50 percent, noting that “list MPs face many of the same pressures as electorate MPs in terms of demand for constituency-related or other representative work”.
Some MPs and staff had expressed concerns about the safety of those who travelled long distances to meet constituents, as well as the lack of further protection for high-profile politicians.
With threats to politicians reaching new highs earlier this year, the security provisions in place for MPs are also under the microscope.
While the report notes several improvements in recent years, it says the rapidly changing security environment means the services provided to MPs and their staff “need further strengthening, quickly”.
Some MPs and staff had expressed concerns about the safety of those who travelled long distances to meet constituents, as well as the lack of further protection for high-profile politicians.
The committee says it was told about the need for improved coordination between the Parliamentary Service, Protection Services, and the rest of the police, with MPs unclear about which agency is responsible for which aspects of security.
“These challenges are unsurprising [given] that the requirements have changed so significantly and quickly over the past couple of years, but they do need to be addressed urgently.”
The report recommends updating a 2019 security review carried out by the Parliamentary Service, creating a new senior role to act as a point of contact for MPs, and centrally funding any home security measures for MPs recommended by security assessments.
The committee has estimated its recommendations would cost roughly $6m a year to implement, excluding any additional funding the Parliamentary Service bids for at the next Budget.
The report recommends the changes be made in the first year of the next Parliament, and notes that without further increases across subsequent terms there is “a risk that these allocations will once again begin to erode”.
Labour: 'Not the time' for MP funding increases
The committee’s 2018 report, which proposed a roughly $13m increase to annual funding for MPs, was swiftly shot down by Leader of the House Chris Hipkins.
“An increase in funding for Parliamentary Support is not a priority for the coalition government and we will not be taking up the recommendations. The report is in effect dead in the water,” Hipkins said at the time.
In a statement to Newsroom, a Labour spokesperson said the party had told the review committee ahead of its latest report that “now was not the time for funding increases while New Zealanders face tough global cost of living pressures” - leaving open the possibility it could again shoot down the recommendations.
ACT leader David Seymour told Newsroom his party supported the main funding bump proposed for MPs by the committee, on the grounds it was an appropriate adjustment for inflation in recent years.
However, Seymour was opposed to any larger increases, saying that while the committee used the first MMP election as a benchmark to measure resources against, there was “no clear evidence that New Zealand has a better or worse democracy now than we did in 1996”.
“The major constraint on MPs isn’t funding, but time,” he said, adding ACT did not support increasing the size of Parliament but instead favoured cutting it to 99 MPs - provided the number of government MPs holding ministerial warrants and other executive roles was also slashed back.
Seymour was particularly opposed to a recommendation that the Parliamentary Service manage the lease for some MPs’ electorate offices if they chose, saying: “If you can’t lease an office, how on earth are you going to help people with their various problems and stand up for them?”
The committee was chaired by ex-Treasury official Bill Moran, with former ministers Ruth Dyson (Labour) and Roger Sowry (National) the other committee members and former Green MP Kevin Hague acting as an advisor.
