NZHistory.net.nz > Gallery > The House > MPs >
That New Zealand (unlike the British House of Commons), paid its parliamentarians from the very beginning to enable wide representation? Not much, though — between 10s and £1 a sitting day. Over most of the next hundred years MPs earned little more than tradesmen.
The question of pay arose at the first session of 1854 when the House voted itself an allowance (or 'honorarium'), initially at different rates for MPs who lived in Auckland and 'out-of-towners'. One MP argued that it fostered 'the growth of men who lived by politics, hanging on to the skirts of Ministers, and ever ready to snatch the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.' But others replied that cutting the allowance would mean 'giving over the government of the country into the hands of the monied classes'. In 1871 the House agreed to a flat rate of £105 per session. The rule deducting money for absent sitting days amused observers who watched 'members wait in the House until the messenger has recorded their presence, and then leave for the rest of the day'.
An annual salary of £240, sufficient to enable working men to consider standing for Parliament, replaced the honorarium from 1892. A special select committee of 1944 established that MPs' work was full-time and led to an increase to £500, supplemented by a tax-free expenses allowance of £250. In 1947 a proper superannuation scheme replaced the antiquated discretionary 'compassionate' allowances. MPs contributed 10 per cent of their salaries and qualified after nine years' service and 50 years of age.
From 1951 Royal Commissions set salaries. Potential public backlash caused Commissions to tread gingerly, but by the early 1970s salaries had finally reached parity with comparable professional groups. In 1974 the Higher Salaries Commission got the power to fix parliamentary salaries, taking the issue away from Parliament entirely, to MPs' relief.
Next: MPs: Social life >