Explanatory note

This note is not part of the determination, but is intended to indicate its general effect.

This determination, which comes into force on 1 July 2012, determines that the travel, accommodation, attendance, and communications services in respect of members of Parliament are those set out in Parts 1 to 3 of the Directions by the Speaker of the House of Representatives 2011 (the Speaker's Directions 2011), as amended by directions the Speaker signed on 19 June 2012. Those services are in addition to the travel, accommodation, and communications services determined in the Parliamentary (Official Inter-Parliamentary Travel Programme) Travel and Accommodation Determination 2007.

This determination replaces the Parliamentary Travel, Accommodation, Attendance, and Communications Services Determination 2011 (the 2011 determination), and is in substantially the same terms as the 2011 determination, except for the amendments made by the directions the Speaker signed on 19 June 2012.

Those amendments replace clause 3.31 of the Directions, relating to payments for the Wellington accommodation for members whose home base is outside Wellington, and who are not provided with residences at the public cost. The amendments come into force on 1 July 2012, and apply to payments for Wellington accommodation expenses incurred on or after 1 July 2012. The effect of the amendments is—

• to reinstate (as in the 2010 and 2008 Speaker's Directions) the upper annual limit on payments to a member for accommodation in Wellington of $24,000 per year; and

• to enable a member in continuous accommodation in Wellington to pay for utility costs (or for the member's share of the utility costs, if 2 or more members share the accommodation) with any balance remaining after deduction from $24,000 of the member's rental costs (or the member's share of the rental costs, if 2 or more members share the accommodation).

The Speaker is required, by section 20B(3) of the Civil List Act 1979, to ensure that a copy of the Speaker's Directions 2011—

• is available for inspection free of charge, or for purchase at a reasonable price, at Parliament House in Wellington and at any other place or places that he or she appoints:

• is published on the Internet.

The document is published on the New Zealand Parliament Internet site at http://www.parliament.nz