This determination amends the Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination (No 2) 2020 (the principal determination). The amendments relate to party Whips as listed in Schedule 1 of the principal determination.

Before finalising the principal determination, the Remuneration Authority (the Authority) consulted, as required under the Remuneration Authority Act 1977, the Speaker of the House and the Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services, and also consulted all members of Parliament (MPs). During that consultation process, the Authority noted that one party in the current Parliament has 65 MPs. This is the largest a party has been under the MMP voting system.

Both the principal determination and previous Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determinations provide for the remuneration of a Whip, based on a sliding scale, reflecting the number of MPs in the party up to a maximum of 45. Since 1999, at least one party has had more than 45 MPs during each parliamentary term.

When the principal determination was finalised, the Authority decided that further work was required before any change was made to the remuneration of a Whip and to determine whether a further Additional Junior Whip was warranted. The Authority subsequently agreed that the workload and responsibilities of a Whip increased incrementally as the number of a party’s MPs rose above 45. Therefore, the Authority decided that, if a party has over 45 MPs, based on the sliding scale, the Whip is entitled to receive an additional $200 per annum for each MP above the 45 threshold. The Authority also decided to make provision for a further Additional Junior Whip where a party has not less than 65 MPs.

This amendment is deemed to have come into force on 7 January 2021, which is the day after the date on which the salaries set by the principal determination ceased to be temporarily reduced by the Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances (Temporary Reduction—COVID-19) Determination 2020.