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A new poll reveals that four out of five New Zealanders want to know exactly how much our MPs claim in allowances.
Details of MP's allowances cannot be revealed because the Parliamentary Services Commission, which hands them out, is exempt from the Official Information Act.
A One News Colmar Brunton poll asked whether what individual MPs receive in allowances should be publicly available information - 82% of respondents said yes, 17% said no and two percent did not know.
The basic MP salary is $85,000, but factor in expenses, allowances just for turning up to work, superannuation schemes and travel perks and they can earn much more.
Prime Minister Helen Clark says every MP has different circumstances and responsibilities.
"I would feel a bit concerned about MPs having to justify why one spent five nights a week in Wellington and another spent two, why some had so much in airfares and others a different amount," Clark says.
Four years ago speaker Jonathan Hunt owned up to being the MP who spent nearly $30,000 a year on taxis - many MPs do not want that sort of information made public
Former cabinet minister Stan Rodger, who headed a review of the rules surrounding allowances two years ago, says that if the public had access to the information it would lead to a better understanding of what MPs do.
"I think there is a sensitivity about (allowances) but once the sort of general information is shared with the community I think a understanding would come and a tolerance would come with that," Rodger says.
Rodger recommended the Official Information Act should cover parliamentary services, but politicians did not take up his recommendations.
An Auditor General's report on allowances is due soon.
