The Prime Minister, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Ministers have additional functions that require them to spend significantly more time in Wellington than ordinary members of Parliament. The provision of an official residence, a continuous accommodation payment, or a reimbursement arrangement is intended to facilitate the conduct of ministerial business and activities undertaken for parliamentary purposes by—

Continuous accommodation payments made under this subpart are based on estimated market rentals for suitable properties in central Wellington with a contribution to, but not full reimbursement of, other property-related expenses such as utilities, cleaning, and gardening services.

This clause applies to the Prime Minister, whether or not the Prime Minister’s home base is within the Wellington commuting area.

The Prime Minister is entitled to be provided with the official residence in Wellington known as Premier House/Te Whare Pirimia.

If the Prime Minister takes up residence in Premier House/Te Whare Pirimia, the actual and reasonable costs of moving to and from there and either (but not both) of the following residences will be met:

Premier House/Te Whare Pirimia is to be provided with the maintenance and support services commensurate with the status of the official residence. This subclause does not apply to any other accommodation.

The Prime Minister must vacate Premier House/Te Whare Pirimia not later than 14 days after ceasing to hold the office of Prime Minister.

This clause applies if the Prime Minister’s home base is outside the Wellington commuting area and the Prime Minister does not take up residence in Premier House/Te Whare Pirimia.

If this clause applies, the Prime Minister may elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment in respect of Wellington accommodation.

The maximum amount of the continuous accommodation payment is $45,000 per year.

This clause applies if the Prime Minister’s home base is outside the Wellington commuting area, the Prime Minister does not take up residence in Premier House/Te Whare Pirimia, and the Prime Minister does not elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment.

If this clause applies, the Prime Minister is entitled to claim reimbursement of the Prime Minister’s actual and reasonable expenses of hotel accommodation in the Wellington commuting area.

The maximum amounts that may be claimed under subclause (2) are—

In subclause (2), actual and reasonable expenses excludes charges for all meals, laundry, use of a minibar, and parking at the accommodation.

The maximum cumulative amount that the Prime Minister may be paid by way of continuous accommodation payments under clause 17 and reimbursement of hotel expenses under clause 18 is $45,000 per year.

This clause and clauses 21 to 23 apply if the home base of the Speaker is outside the Wellington commuting area.

If this clause applies, the Speaker is entitled to be provided with an official residence in Wellington.

If the Speaker takes up residence in an official residence, the actual and reasonable costs of moving to and from the official residence and either (but not both) of the following residences will be met:

The official residence is to be provided with the maintenance and support services commensurate with the status of the official residence. This subclause does not apply to any other accommodation.

The Speaker must vacate the official residence not later than 5 working days after vacating the office of Speaker, if that happens at any time other than on polling day at a general election.

However, if the person who holds the office of Speaker on polling day at a general election vacates office before the first meeting of the House after polling day, the person must vacate the official residence not later than 5 working days after vacating office or the day before the first meeting of the House, whichever is the earlier.

In this clause and clause 21, official residence—

If the Speaker does not occupy an official residence, the Speaker may elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment in respect of Wellington accommodation.

The maximum amount of the continuous accommodation payment is $45,000 per year.

If the Speaker does not occupy an official residence and does not elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment, the Speaker is entitled to claim reimbursement of the Speaker’s actual and reasonable expenses of hotel accommodation in the Wellington commuting area.

The maximum amounts that may be claimed under subclause (1) are—

In subclause (1), actual and reasonable expenses excludes charges for all meals, laundry, use of a minibar, and parking at the accommodation.

The maximum cumulative amount that the Speaker may be paid by way of continuous accommodation payments under clause 21 and reimbursement of hotel expenses under clause 22 is $45,000 per year.

Clauses 20 to 23 also apply to the Deputy Speaker and, for that purpose, those clauses are to be read as if references to the Speaker were references to the Deputy Speaker.

Clauses 26 to 29 apply—

Clauses 26 to 29 do not apply to parliamentary under-secretaries.

The Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services may, in that Minister’s discretion, allocate an official residence to a Minister.

If a Minister takes up an official residence, the actual and reasonable costs of moving to and from the official residence and either (but not both) of the following residences will be met:

All ministerial official residences are to be provided with the maintenance and support services commensurate with the status of the official residence. This subclause does not apply to any other accommodation.

A Minister must vacate the official residence not later than 14 days after ceasing to hold office as a Minister.

If a Minister does not occupy an official residence, the Minister may elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment in respect of Wellington accommodation.

The maximum amount of the continuous accommodation payment is $45,000 per year.

If a Minister does not occupy an official residence and does not elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment, the Minister is entitled to claim reimbursement of actual and reasonable expenses of the Minister’s hotel accommodation in the Wellington commuting area.

The maximum amounts that may be claimed under subclause (1) are—

In subclause (1), actual and reasonable expenses excludes charges for all meals, laundry, use of a minibar, and parking at the accommodation.

The maximum cumulative amount that a Minister may be paid by way of continuous accommodation payments under clause 27 and reimbursement of hotel expenses under clause 28 is $45,000 per year.

In clauses 31 to 35, unless the context otherwise requires, Wellington accommodation means the accommodation of a member of Parliament within the Wellington commuting area when the member of Parliament is engaged in activities undertaken for parliamentary purposes in Wellington.

Accommodation payments made under this subpart are based on estimated market rentals for suitable properties in central Wellington with a contribution to, but not full reimbursement of, other property-related expenses such as utilities, cleaning, and gardening services.

Clauses 33 to 38 apply in respect of a member of Parliament’s Wellington accommodation expenses if—

A member of Parliament may elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment in respect of Wellington accommodation.

The maximum amount of the continuous accommodation payment is $31,000 per year.

If a member of Parliament does not elect to receive a continuous accommodation payment, the member is entitled to claim reimbursement of the member’s actual and reasonable expenses of accommodation up to the following maximum amounts:

In subclause (1), actual and reasonable expenses excludes charges for all meals, laundry, use of a minibar, and parking at the accommodation.

The maximum cumulative amount that a member may be paid by way of continuous accommodation payments under clause 33 and reimbursement of accommodation expenses under clause 34 is $31,000 per year.

If a member of Parliament lives in the same accommodation with 1 or more other persons, the maximum amount of the continuous accommodation payment that may be paid to the member in respect of the accommodation is as follows:

To avoid doubt, if a member is a Minister, references in subclause (1) to a continuous accommodation payment are to be treated as references to the continuous accommodation payment of the Minister in the capacity of Minister.

For the purposes of subclause (1), other person—

If a member of Parliament sublets their Wellington accommodation for part of the year, their continuous accommodation payment must be reduced by an amount reflecting the amount of time that the accommodation is sublet.

This clause applies to a person who—

The person has, for 4 weeks after the date on which the person ceased to be a member of Parliament, the same entitlements under clauses 16 to 36 to accommodation services that they were entitled to immediately before they ceased to be a member of Parliament.

Entitlements under this clause must be used to enable the person to attend to matters associated with leaving Parliament.

Members of Parliament cease to hold office at the close of polling day. However, it is recognised that members who vacate office at the close of polling day and are seeking re-election, and other candidates who appear to have been elected on the basis of election-night results, need to be supported after the election. The provision of services between polling day and the official election results enables those candidates to participate in processes related to the formation of a government and the making of arrangements at Parliament, commence representation of their constituencies and other parliamentary duties, and, where applicable, participate in parliamentary induction after the election. The position is similar if there is a by-election.

Subclause (2) applies to a qualifying electoral candidate described in item 1 or 2 of Schedule 1 of the Act.

Clauses 16 to 38 continue to apply to a qualifying electoral candidate as if the qualifying electoral candidate had continued to hold—

Subclause (4) applies to a qualifying electoral candidate described in item 3, 4, or 5 of Schedule 1 of the Act.

Clauses 32 to 38 apply to a qualifying electoral candidate as if the qualifying electoral candidate had—

This clause applies if a member of Parliament (including the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, or a Minister) is temporarily unable to use their usual accommodation (home base or continuous accommodation), whether within or outside the Wellington commuting area, and must use alternative accommodation because of a circumstance that is unavoidable, beyond their control, and associated with their role and functions as a member of Parliament.

If this clause applies, a non-continuous accommodation payment in respect of the alternative accommodation for the period during which they are unable to use their usual accommodation may be authorised.

The maximum non-continuous accommodation payment that may be authorised under this clause is the same as the maximum amount specified in clause 18(3)(a), 22(2)(a), 28(2)(a), or 34(1) (whichever applies to the member).

The responsibility for granting an authorisation under this clause is to be determined in accordance with section 7 of the Parliamentary Service Act 2000.

This clause applies if the Speaker or the Leader of the Opposition, while engaging in activities undertaken for parliamentary purposes, incurs expenses in respect of accommodation outside the Wellington commuting area and those expenses are incurred in circumstances where—

If this clause applies, the Speaker or the Leader of the Opposition may be paid the actual and reasonable expenses of the accommodation up to the following maximum amounts:

The Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition may also be paid the actual and reasonable expenses under this clause for the accommodation of 1 or more family members accompanying them, but (to avoid doubt) the maximum amounts specified in subclause (2) apply to the aggregate of the accommodation expenses of the Speaker or the Leader of the Opposition and their family member or members.

In this clause, actual and reasonable expenses—

Ministers travel frequently outside Wellington, often accompanied by office staff or departmental officials. They require accommodation where they can hold meetings and attend to their normal ministerial work while travelling. The accommodation they require is accordingly more expensive than that required by other members. These provisions apply also to the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition, whose circumstances are similar.

This clause applies if a Minister, while on ministerial business, incurs expenses in respect of accommodation outside the Wellington commuting area and those expenses are incurred in circumstances where—

If this clause applies, the Minister may be paid the actual and reasonable expenses of the accommodation up to the following maximum amounts:

A Minister may also be paid the actual and reasonable expenses under this clause for the accommodation of 1 or more family members accompanying the Minister, but (to avoid doubt) the maximum amounts specified in subclause (2) apply to the aggregate of the accommodation expenses of the Minister and the family member or members.

In this clause, actual and reasonable expenses—

This clause applies when a Minister incurs expenses in respect of accommodation outside the Wellington commuting area in connection with the function of hosting an official guest who has been granted full Guest-of-Government status by the Prime Minister.

The Minister may be paid the actual and reasonable expenses of the accommodation, and the maximum amounts specified in clause 43(2) do not apply.

In this clause, actual and reasonable expenses has the same meaning as in clause 43(4).

A member of Parliament who is a specified member may be paid for the expense of an evening meal up to a maximum of $80 for the member’s spouse or partner if, in relation to an official function or official event outside the Wellington commuting area,—

This clause applies despite clauses 41(3) and (4)(b) and 43(3) and (4)(b).

In this clause, specified member—

This clause applies if a member of Parliament, while engaged in activities undertaken for a parliamentary purpose, incurs expenses in respect of accommodation outside the Wellington commuting area and those expenses are incurred in circumstances where—

If this clause applies, the member may be paid the actual and reasonable expenses of the accommodation up to the following maximum amounts:

A member may also be paid the actual and reasonable expenses under this clause for the accommodation of 1 or more family members accompanying the member, but (to avoid doubt) the maximum amounts specified in subclause (2) apply to the aggregate of the accommodation expenses of the member and the family member or members.

In this clause, actual and reasonable expenses—

Any member of Parliament who has a security system installed at the member’s home base may have the actual and reasonable expenses associated with the security system paid up to the maximum of—

A member who is not a Minister may be provided with additional security measures, at the member’s request, at—

Members who are Ministers must be provided with additional security measures at all official residences, Wellington residences, and home bases.

Security measures provided under subclauses (2) and (3)—

Subclause (2) applies to a qualifying electoral candidate described in item 1 or 2 of Schedule 1 of the Act.

Clauses 46, 47, and 49 apply to a qualifying electoral candidate as if the qualifying electoral candidate had continued to hold office as a member of Parliament.

Subclause (4) applies to a qualifying electoral candidate described in item 3, 4, or 5 of Schedule 1 of the Act.

Clauses 46 and 49 apply to a qualifying electoral candidate as if the qualifying electoral candidate had—

This clause applies if—

If this clause applies, an accommodation payment in excess of the amounts specified in clause 41, 43, or 46 may be authorised.

An increase in the accommodation payment authorised under subclause (2)—

The responsibility for granting an authorisation under this clause is to be determined in accordance with section 7 of the Parliamentary Service Act 2000.