Key orders review of ministerial housing rules

Prime Minister John Key has ordered a review of the rules that cover ministerial housing, saying they are arcane and don't deliver the best results.

He is, however, still backing members of his cabinet who have been under scrutiny for their accommodation claims and says he doesn't believe any have taken advantage of their circumstances.

Questions have been raised since details of MPs' travel and accommodation expenses were released last week, particularly about the taxpayer contribution of nearly $1000 a week for Deputy Prime Minister Bill English to live in his million-dollar Wellington home.

The home was bought by Mr English and his wife, Mary, for $800,000 in 2003.

In March this year the title was transferred to Mrs English. The home, now worth an estimated $1.2 million, is owned by a family trust.

Question to Mr Key: "When you said he changed the trust arrangement after the election, and that was the thing that qualified him for the Ministerial Services allowance, and yet he didn't do it to qualify for the allowance, it was just a coincidence?"

Mr Key: "That's my understanding."

Mr English could have stayed with the same arrangement he had when he was an opposition MP, and not claimed any ministerial allowance.

When that was put to Mr Key, he said Mr English could also have chosen to stay on the salary of deputy leader of the opposition.

"We can go out there and persecute cabinet ministers but I'm sorry, they're actually doing a very important function and you expect them to do that at a good level," Mr Key said at his post-cabinet press conference today.

"And I expect them to be able to keep their marriages and families intact."

He said if Mr English wasn't an MP he would be living in Dipton in Southland.

"He has a house in Wellington and a family in Wellington because that's where his job is.

"He is staying in a property that is cheaper for the taxpayer than if he went out and rented something else."

Mr Key said problems with the rules weren't new.

"Ministerial Services' rules look arcane to me. They don't necessarily drive the best outcomes for either the taxpayer or the minister," he said.

"I think the rules drive perverse outcomes...I want to make sure the taxpayer gets as fair a deal as possible which genuinely reflects the increased demand (placed on ministers)."

Mr Key said his ministers often worked 18-hour days for six or seven days a week.

"Most New Zealanders, I believe, would support me in my desire to see the marriages of my cabinet ministers and the happiness of their families remain intact," he said.

"I don't expect them to take advantage of the goodwill of the taxpayers and I don't believe they are, but I'm quite happy to have new rules out there that reflect that."

Mr Key said terms of reference for the review would be made public, probably later this week, and he expected changes to result from the review.

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