Still taking the piss

Back in 2009, we learned that then-Deputy PM Bill English was being paid by us to "rent" his own home, thanks to some dodgy corporate arrangements - involving, of course, a trust - so that he could pretend that he didn't really own it. The public recognised this for the corrupt rort it was, and following an investigation by the Auditor-General, the system was "reformed" to just give MPs and Ministers a fixed accommodation allowance, so they could rort without question. And so somewhat unsurprisingly, they're still doing it:

At least 20 MPs are claiming up to $45,000 a year allowance to stay in their own Wellington homes, a perk that sees the taxpayer help politicians pay off their mortgages.

Four ministers (Duncan Webb, Jan Tinetti, Deborah Russell and Willie Jackson) claimed the capped allowance, of up to $45,000 a year, to cover living costs in the city. They then use it to pay rent on property they already own.

Four Government MPs (Arena Williams, Jenny Salesa, Jamie Strange and Sarah Pallet) claim an entitlement of up to $31,000 per year.

Twelve National Party MPs, including leader Christopher Luxon, do the same. They are: Andrew Bayly; Gerry Brownlee; Judith Collins; Jacqui Dean; Barbara Kuriger; Melissa Lee; Ian McKelvie; Mark Mitchell; Simon O’Connor; Stuart Smith; Louise Upston and Michael Woodhouse.

ACT’s Simon Court also claims the allowance and owns property in the Capital, but the party did not respond to a request for comment.

As I said when English's corruption was exposed, living in Wellington is part of an MP's job, and it is entirely properly that we meet the actual, reasonable, and necessary expenses of doing so. But its quite another thing to be paying them to live in their own homes, or giving them a leg up on the Wellington property market (and taxpayer-subsidised capital gains) as a perk of office. These MPs are rorting us, and undermining trust in our political system in the process. What makes it all the more appalling is that they know how toxic such behaviour is with the public, and yet they keep doing it. Its as if they just can't help themselves. Which something pretty bad about the sorts of people we're electing as MP's.

So what's the alternative? While the temptation is to make MPs live in a dorm with cold showers, or in rental properties from lowest-bidder providers with management outsourced to Quinovic, so they know how normal people live, we do actually need them to be able to do their jobs without being dragged away from the House by pointless property inspections and demands that they clean the inside of the oven. Fortunately, there's an easy option: the government could provide and manage MPs' housing directly, just as they do for the PM and used to do for other Ministers. And that way, we know exactly what it costs, it can be managed properly, and no-one gets to use public service as a sneaky way of getting themselves a million dollar house and some tax-free capital gains. But of course, since MP's write their own rules to advantage themselves, that's the last thing they'll accept.