NSW: Politicians allowances in shakeup

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-1999
NSW: Politicians allowances in shakeup

New South Wales politicians are to come under more scrutiny than ever before, under
a shakeup of their expense accounts.

The state's politicians will for the first time be required to provide proof of how
they spend the money.

And any unspent electorate and travel allowances funds will have to be returned to
parliament, ending the tradition that the money rolls over to the next year.

The new guidelines, due to come into effect in the New Year, have been drawn up by
the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal.

Members with out-of-town electorates will gain from the changes, with an increase in
the allowance to stay in Sydney for parliamentary business.

The allowance will go up by three dollars to $150 per night.

But members will be asked to hand over receipts and plane boarding passes at the end
of the year, to prove they were in Sydney on official business when they claimed to be.

Additional entitlements will be divided into four areas - transport, electronic communication,
non-electronic communication, and stationery and printing - with a requirement that money
from one area cannot be used to fund another.

AAP RTV jw/ab/jn

KEYWORD: ALLOWANCES (SYDNEY)

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