IN-CONFIDENCE

Tēnā koe James Welsh

Thank you for your email received 22 May 2026, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National Office to respond.

The information you have requested may contain the names and contact details of our staff. Please let us know by 27 May 2026 whether you require these names and contact details. We will need to consult our staff before deciding whether we can release this information, and this will take a bit more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you do not require staff names and contact details.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development

Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake

show quoted sections

IN-CONFIDENCE

Tena koe James Welsh,

 

On 22 May 2026 you emailed the Ministry of Social Development (the
Ministry) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982, the
following information:

 

o All records relied upon to determine the Minister's eligibility for
accommodation allowance payments.
o All records demonstrating the basis upon which accommodation allowance
payments of approximately $1,000 per week were calculated, approved,
reviewed, audited, or authorised.
o Confirmation of whether the Minister has declared ownership, part
ownership, beneficial ownership, trust ownership, or any other legal
or equitable interest in residential property within the Wellington
region for the purposes of determining eligibility for accommodation
assistance or accommodation allowances.
o Any assessments, reviews, investigations, audits, compliance checks,
or verification processes undertaken in relation to the Minister's
accommodation allowance claims.
o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o Any documents discussing whether property ownership within Wellington
affects eligibility for accommodation allowance payments, and how such
ownership is assessed.
o Any documents discussing the appropriateness of accommodation
allowance payments being made where the recipient owns, wholly or
partly owns, a residential property in Wellington.
o Any correspondence, briefings, talking points, media responses, or
advice prepared in relation to public scrutiny of the Minister's
accommodation allowance claims.
o Any analysis, discussion, or advice concerning whether the standards
proposed for Accommodation Supplement recipients are materially
different from those applied when assessing ministerial accommodation
allowances.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowances should be
means-tested, asset-tested, income-tested, or otherwise subject to
financial eligibility criteria.
o Any documents considering whether recipients of ministerial
accommodation allowances should be required to make a minimum personal
contribution toward accommodation costs before receiving
taxpayer-funded assistance.
o Any documents comparing accommodation allowance arrangements available
to Ministers and MPs with accommodation assistance available to
beneficiaries, superannuitants, low-income workers, students, or other
members of the public.
o Any documents discussing public perceptions of fairness, equity,
consistency, or public confidence in relation to accommodation
allowances claimed by Ministers.
o Any documents discussing whether ownership of residential property
should reduce, limit, offset, or eliminate eligibility for
accommodation allowances.
o Any documents recording actual accommodation costs incurred by the
Minister that were relevant to determining, approving, or justifying
accommodation allowance payments.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowance payments
exceed, match, or fall below actual accommodation expenses incurred by
the Minister.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.
o Any audits, reviews, investigations, assurance reports, compliance
checks, or exception reports concerning accommodation allowance claims
made by Ministers or MPs during the last ten years.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowance recipients
are required to demonstrate financial need before receiving
taxpayer-funded accommodation assistance.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowances should be
available to individuals whose personal income exceeds specified
thresholds.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowances should be
available to individuals who own one or more residential properties.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowances should be
capped by reference to actual housing costs, market rents, mortgage
costs, or other measurable accommodation expenses.
o Any documents discussing the reputational, political, ethical, or
governance risks associated with Ministers receiving accommodation
allowances while proposing stricter accommodation assistance criteria
for members of the public.
o Any documents, emails, messages, meeting notes, briefings, talking
points, draft responses, or correspondence prepared following media
enquiries concerning comparisons between ministerial accommodation
allowances and Accommodation Supplement eligibility criteria.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowance recipients
would satisfy the same housing-cost-to-income thresholds proposed for
Accommodation Supplement recipients.
o Any documents identifying recipients of accommodation allowances whose
housing costs represent less than 40% of their gross income.
o Any documents discussing whether accommodation allowances constitute a
subsidy, reimbursement, entitlement, allowance, benefit, assistance
payment, or other form of taxpayer-funded housing support, including
any discussion of the terminology used to describe such payments.
o Any documents discussing potential reforms, reductions, restrictions,
eligibility changes, or abolition of ministerial or parliamentary
accommodation allowances.
o Any communications between Ministers, ministerial staff, parliamentary
officials, the Remuneration Authority, Treasury, or officials
regarding criticism of accommodation allowance arrangements.
o Lastly, and most importantly, morally, are these your values?

 

We have transferred your request to the Department of Internal Affairs as
the information to which your request relates is not held by the Ministry
but is believed to be held by the Department of Internal Affairs. In these
circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the OIA to transfer your
request.

 

Please note that according to sections 14 and 15(1) of the Official
Information Act, the 20-working day response period is reset by the
transfer and starts again on the day the Department of Internal Affairs
receives the transfer notification. The Ministry notified the Department
of Internal Affairs of the transfer today.

 

You will hear further from the Department of Internal Affairs concerning
your request in due course.

 

Na matou noa, na

 

Official Information Team   |  Ministerial and Executive Services

Ministry of Social Development

 

Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whanau

 

 

This email and any attachments may contain information that is
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this
email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in
error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the
email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no
responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after
transmission from the Ministry.

Dear James,

 

Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act to the
Department of Internal Affairs (the Department) received on 27 May 2026.

 

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as
practicable and within twenty working days. The due date for your request
is 25 June 2026. We will contact you if we require clarification of your
request, more time to respond, or if your request has been transferred to
another organisation to respond to.

 

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides
information that is identified to be of general public interest, the
response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs
website. If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all
personal information, including your name and contact details, will be
removed.

 

Kind regards

 

Branch Performance

Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[1]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[2]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA  to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence  
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[1]dia.govt.nz | [2]Facebook | [3]LinkedIn

[4]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear James,

 

Please find attached a letter advising of an extension to the timeframe
for responding to your request under the Official Information Act 1982.

 

Thank you,

 

Branch Performance

Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[1]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[2]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

From: MaSS info
Sent: Thursday, 28 May 2026 1:49 pm
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Acknowledgement of OIA2526-1270 - Ministers entitlements
documentation

 

Dear James,

 

Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act to the
Department of Internal Affairs (the Department) received on 27 May 2026.

 

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as
practicable and within twenty working days. The due date for your request
is 25 June 2026. We will contact you if we require clarification of your
request, more time to respond, or if your request has been transferred to
another organisation to respond to.

 

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides
information that is identified to be of general public interest, the
response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs
website. If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all
personal information, including your name and contact details, will be
removed.

 

Kind regards

 

Branch Performance

Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[3]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[4]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear James,

 

Please find attached a response to your request under the Official
Information Act 1982.

 

Thank you,

 

Branch Performance

Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[1]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[2]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

From: MaSS info
Sent: Thursday, 25 June 2026 10:37 am
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Extension to the Timeframe: Acknowledgement of OIA2526-1270 -
Ministers entitlements documentation

 

Dear James,

 

Please find attached a letter advising of an extension to the timeframe
for responding to your request under the Official Information Act 1982.

 

Thank you,

 

Branch Performance

Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[3]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[4]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

From: MaSS info
Sent: Thursday, 28 May 2026 1:49 pm
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[5][FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Acknowledgement of OIA2526-1270 - Ministers entitlements
documentation

 

Dear James,

 

Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act to the
Department of Internal Affairs (the Department) received on 27 May 2026.

 

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as
practicable and within twenty working days. The due date for your request
is 25 June 2026. We will contact you if we require clarification of your
request, more time to respond, or if your request has been transferred to
another organisation to respond to.

 

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides
information that is identified to be of general public interest, the
response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs
website. If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all
personal information, including your name and contact details, will be
removed.

 

Kind regards

 

Branch Performance

Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[6]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[7]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

show quoted sections

Tēnā koe James Welch

On 11 June 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs transferred part of
your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, dated 22 May 2026,
to the Remuneration Authority (the Authority), specifically your request
for:

·     Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or
internal procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

·     All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and members of Parliament,
including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or necessary
accommodation cost in Wellington.

·     Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses,
rental obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body
corporate costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken
into account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.

The current Members of Parliament (Accommodation Services for Members and
Travel Services for Family Members) Determination 2023 (the
determination), which was issued by the Authority on 3 August 2023,
contains the current accommodation services provided for Ministers and
members of Parliament (MPs). Here is a link to the determination:

[1]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/secondar...

The determination specifies the maximum amounts that Ministers and MPs can
claim in the form of expenses for accommodation in Wellington.

I draw your attention to the explanatory memorandum appended to the
determination. It sets out the starting points and rationale for the
current level of accommodation expenses and describes the process that was
followed in making the Determination.

The determination addresses the first and second bullet points listed
above.

Regarding the third bullet point listed above, the information you have
requested is contained in seven separate PDFs which contain the publicly
available source information (see appendix 1) that the Authority took into
account when determining the type and level of accommodation payments able
to be claimed by Ministers and MPs. Due to the large number of documents
and the size of the PDFs.  I am sending you the PDFs in seven separate
emails, the first being this one.  

The Authority is unable to provide you with information that was supplied
to us by the other agencies or which is covered by section 9 (members and
officers to maintain secrecy) of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977.  

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.  The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [3][email address] or by phone on 0800
802 602.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Mike Kunz

 

--

Mike Kunz

Executive Director - Office of the Remuneration Authority

[4]www.remauthority.govt.nz

 

 

 

Appendix 1:   List of documents (in chronological order) contained in the
attached seven PDFs

No: File name
1 220531 Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx   (extracted from the accommodation
providers' websites)
2 230221 Newshub - Rent hits record high according to latest Trade Me
data _ Newshub.html
3 230223 Interest.Co.NZ Regional median rent.pdf
4 230228 Colliers NZ Hotel Snapshot Q1 2023.pdf
5 230324 Tommy's Rental Market Update - March 2023.pdf
6 230424 NZTE_Hotel_Attraction_Prospectus_281020.pdf
7 230424 RNBZ inflation calculator MPs at $31,000.pdf
8 230424 Scoop » Wellington rents at record high; listings up 40 per
cent.pdf
9 230424 Stats NZ consumers-price-index-march-2023-quarter.xlsx
10 230424 Stuff By the numbers_ The rental market at year’s end 2022.pdf
11 230424 Trade Me Rental Price Index data reveals where rents increased
the most in 2022.pdf
12 230426  One News Trade Me Rental prices at all-time high, up 4% from a
year ago.pdf
13 230426 Figure NZ Median_weekly_rents_by_region_in_New_Zealand.png
14 230426 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-january-2023.xlsx
15 230428 Trade Me Rental Index Aotearoa rents hit $600 for the first
time Feb 20.pdf
16 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Explained.pdf
17 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rental Bond Data.pdf
18 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents 31 March 2023.xlsx
19 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services  Rental Bond Data Wgtn City from
1993.xlsx
20 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Kelburn 31 March 2023.pdf
21 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Mount Victoria 31 March
2023.pdf
22 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Northland 31 March 2023.pdf
23 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Pipitea 31 March 2023.pdf
24 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Roseneath 31 March 2023.pdf
25 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Te Aro 31 March 2023.pdf
26 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Thorndon 31 March 2023.pdf
27 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wadestown 31 March 2023.pdf
28 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wgtn Central 31 March
2023.pdf
29 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents Wgtn City 31 March 2023.xlsx
30 230505 Hotel Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx  (extracted from the
accommodation providers' websites)
31 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.docx
32 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.pdf
33 230509 Stats NZ CPI Actual Rentals for Housing Wellington
Quarterly.xlsx
34 230509 Stats NZ Rental price indexes_ March 2023.pdf
35 230509 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-march-2023.xlsx
36 230516 STUFF Property investors 'facing equivalent of 10.5% interest
rate', investor says _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
37 230516 STUFF Rental asking price remain stagnant for third month in a
row_ Trade Me _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
38 230619 Ministers
Executive-Expense-Disclosure-January-to-March-2023.xlsx
39 230619 MPs
disclosure-of-members-expenses-from-1-january-to-31-march-2023.xlsx

 

 

From: MaSS info <[5][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:11 am
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[6][FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Partial transfer of request

 

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [7][email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[8]dia.govt.nz | [9]Facebook | [10]LinkedIn

[11]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

James Welsh OIA request PDF file 2 attached as per response below

.

From: Info - Remuneration Authority
Sent: Thursday, 2 July 2026 4:06 pm
To: [FOI #34768 email]
Subject: Partial transfer of request: One Housing Rule for Ministers,
Another for Everyone Else? (No. 1)

 

Tēnā koe James Welsh

On 11 June 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs transferred part of
your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, dated 22 May 2026,
to the Remuneration Authority (the Authority), specifically your request
for:

·     Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or
internal procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

·     All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and members of Parliament,
including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or necessary
accommodation cost in Wellington.

·     Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses,
rental obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body
corporate costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken
into account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.

The current Members of Parliament (Accommodation Services for Members and
Travel Services for Family Members) Determination 2023 (the
determination), which was issued by the Authority on 3 August 2023,
contains the current accommodation services provided for Ministers and
members of Parliament (MPs). Here is a link to the determination:

[1]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/secondar...

The determination specifies the maximum amounts that Ministers and MPs can
claim in the form of expenses for accommodation in Wellington.

I draw your attention to the explanatory memorandum appended to the
determination. It sets out the starting points and rationale for the
current level of accommodation expenses and describes the process that was
followed in making the Determination.

The determination addresses the first and second bullet points listed
above.

Regarding the third bullet point listed above, the information you have
requested is contained in seven separate PDFs which contain the publicly
available source information (see appendix 1) that the Authority took into
account when determining the type and level of accommodation payments able
to be claimed by Ministers and MPs. Due to the large number of documents
and the size of the PDFs.  I am sending you the PDFs in seven separate
emails, the first being this one.  

The Authority is unable to provide you with information that was supplied
to us by the other agencies or which is covered by section 9 (members and
officers to maintain secrecy) of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977.  

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.  The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [3][email address] or by phone on 0800
802 602.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Mike Kunz

 

--

Mike Kunz

Executive Director - Office of the Remuneration Authority

[4]www.remauthority.govt.nz

 

 

 

Appendix 1:   List of documents (in chronological order) contained in the
attached seven PDFs

No: File name
1 220531 Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx   (extracted from the accommodation
providers' websites)
2 230221 Newshub - Rent hits record high according to latest Trade Me
data _ Newshub.html
3 230223 Interest.Co.NZ Regional median rent.pdf
4 230228 Colliers NZ Hotel Snapshot Q1 2023.pdf
5 230324 Tommy's Rental Market Update - March 2023.pdf
6 230424 NZTE_Hotel_Attraction_Prospectus_281020.pdf
7 230424 RNBZ inflation calculator MPs at $31,000.pdf
8 230424 Scoop » Wellington rents at record high; listings up 40 per
cent.pdf
9 230424 Stats NZ consumers-price-index-march-2023-quarter.xlsx
10 230424 Stuff By the numbers_ The rental market at year’s end 2022.pdf
11 230424 Trade Me Rental Price Index data reveals where rents increased
the most in 2022.pdf
12 230426  One News Trade Me Rental prices at all-time high, up 4% from a
year ago.pdf
13 230426 Figure NZ Median_weekly_rents_by_region_in_New_Zealand.png
14 230426 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-january-2023.xlsx
15 230428 Trade Me Rental Index Aotearoa rents hit $600 for the first
time Feb 20.pdf
16 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Explained.pdf
17 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rental Bond Data.pdf
18 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents 31 March 2023.xlsx
19 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services  Rental Bond Data Wgtn City from
1993.xlsx
20 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Kelburn 31 March 2023.pdf
21 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Mount Victoria 31 March
2023.pdf
22 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Northland 31 March 2023.pdf
23 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Pipitea 31 March 2023.pdf
24 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Roseneath 31 March 2023.pdf
25 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Te Aro 31 March 2023.pdf
26 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Thorndon 31 March 2023.pdf
27 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wadestown 31 March 2023.pdf
28 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wgtn Central 31 March
2023.pdf
29 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents Wgtn City 31 March 2023.xlsx
30 230505 Hotel Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx  (extracted from the
accommodation providers' websites)
31 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.docx
32 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.pdf
33 230509 Stats NZ CPI Actual Rentals for Housing Wellington
Quarterly.xlsx
34 230509 Stats NZ Rental price indexes_ March 2023.pdf
35 230509 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-march-2023.xlsx
36 230516 STUFF Property investors 'facing equivalent of 10.5% interest
rate', investor says _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
37 230516 STUFF Rental asking price remain stagnant for third month in a
row_ Trade Me _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
38 230619 Ministers
Executive-Expense-Disclosure-January-to-March-2023.xlsx
39 230619 MPs
disclosure-of-members-expenses-from-1-january-to-31-march-2023.xlsx

 

 

From: MaSS info <[5][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:11 am
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[6][FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Partial transfer of request

 

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [7][email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[8]dia.govt.nz | [9]Facebook | [10]LinkedIn

[11]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

James Welsh OIA request PDF file 2 attached as per response below

.

From: Info - Remuneration Authority
Sent: Thursday, 2 July 2026 4:06 pm
To: [1][FOI #34768 email]
Subject: Partial transfer of request: One Housing Rule for Ministers,
Another for Everyone Else? (No. 1)

 

Tēnā koe James Welsh

On 11 June 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs transferred part of
your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, dated 22 May 2026,
to the Remuneration Authority (the Authority), specifically your request
for:

·     Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or
internal procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

·     All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and members of Parliament,
including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or necessary
accommodation cost in Wellington.

·     Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses,
rental obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body
corporate costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken
into account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.

The current Members of Parliament (Accommodation Services for Members and
Travel Services for Family Members) Determination 2023 (the
determination), which was issued by the Authority on 3 August 2023,
contains the current accommodation services provided for Ministers and
members of Parliament (MPs). Here is a link to the determination:

[2]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/secondar...

The determination specifies the maximum amounts that Ministers and MPs can
claim in the form of expenses for accommodation in Wellington.

I draw your attention to the explanatory memorandum appended to the
determination. It sets out the starting points and rationale for the
current level of accommodation expenses and describes the process that was
followed in making the Determination.

The determination addresses the first and second bullet points listed
above.

Regarding the third bullet point listed above, the information you have
requested is contained in seven separate PDFs which contain the publicly
available source information (see appendix 1) that the Authority took into
account when determining the type and level of accommodation payments able
to be claimed by Ministers and MPs. Due to the large number of documents
and the size of the PDFs.  I am sending you the PDFs in seven separate
emails, the first being this one.  

The Authority is unable to provide you with information that was supplied
to us by the other agencies or which is covered by section 9 (members and
officers to maintain secrecy) of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977.  

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
[3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.  The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [4][email address] or by phone on 0800
802 602.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Mike Kunz

 

--

Mike Kunz

Executive Director - Office of the Remuneration Authority

[5]www.remauthority.govt.nz

 

 

 

Appendix 1:   List of documents (in chronological order) contained in the
attached seven PDFs

No: File name
1 220531 Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx   (extracted from the accommodation
providers' websites)
2 230221 Newshub - Rent hits record high according to latest Trade Me
data _ Newshub.html
3 230223 Interest.Co.NZ Regional median rent.pdf
4 230228 Colliers NZ Hotel Snapshot Q1 2023.pdf
5 230324 Tommy's Rental Market Update - March 2023.pdf
6 230424 NZTE_Hotel_Attraction_Prospectus_281020.pdf
7 230424 RNBZ inflation calculator MPs at $31,000.pdf
8 230424 Scoop » Wellington rents at record high; listings up 40 per
cent.pdf
9 230424 Stats NZ consumers-price-index-march-2023-quarter.xlsx
10 230424 Stuff By the numbers_ The rental market at year’s end 2022.pdf
11 230424 Trade Me Rental Price Index data reveals where rents increased
the most in 2022.pdf
12 230426  One News Trade Me Rental prices at all-time high, up 4% from a
year ago.pdf
13 230426 Figure NZ Median_weekly_rents_by_region_in_New_Zealand.png
14 230426 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-january-2023.xlsx
15 230428 Trade Me Rental Index Aotearoa rents hit $600 for the first
time Feb 20.pdf
16 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Explained.pdf
17 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rental Bond Data.pdf
18 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents 31 March 2023.xlsx
19 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services  Rental Bond Data Wgtn City from
1993.xlsx
20 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Kelburn 31 March 2023.pdf
21 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Mount Victoria 31 March
2023.pdf
22 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Northland 31 March 2023.pdf
23 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Pipitea 31 March 2023.pdf
24 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Roseneath 31 March 2023.pdf
25 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Te Aro 31 March 2023.pdf
26 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Thorndon 31 March 2023.pdf
27 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wadestown 31 March 2023.pdf
28 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wgtn Central 31 March
2023.pdf
29 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents Wgtn City 31 March 2023.xlsx
30 230505 Hotel Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx  (extracted from the
accommodation providers' websites)
31 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.docx
32 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.pdf
33 230509 Stats NZ CPI Actual Rentals for Housing Wellington
Quarterly.xlsx
34 230509 Stats NZ Rental price indexes_ March 2023.pdf
35 230509 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-march-2023.xlsx
36 230516 STUFF Property investors 'facing equivalent of 10.5% interest
rate', investor says _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
37 230516 STUFF Rental asking price remain stagnant for third month in a
row_ Trade Me _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
38 230619 Ministers
Executive-Expense-Disclosure-January-to-March-2023.xlsx
39 230619 MPs
disclosure-of-members-expenses-from-1-january-to-31-march-2023.xlsx

 

 

From: MaSS info <[6][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:11 am
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[7][FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Partial transfer of request

 

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [8][email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[9]dia.govt.nz | [10]Facebook | [11]LinkedIn

[12]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

James Welsh OIA request PDF file 4 attached as per response below

.

From: Info - Remuneration Authority
Sent: Thursday, 2 July 2026 4:06 pm
To: [1][FOI #34768 email]
Subject: Partial transfer of request: One Housing Rule for Ministers,
Another for Everyone Else? (No. 1)

 

Tēnā koe James Welsh

On 11 June 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs transferred part of
your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, dated 22 May 2026,
to the Remuneration Authority (the Authority), specifically your request
for:

·     Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or
internal procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

·     All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and members of Parliament,
including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or necessary
accommodation cost in Wellington.

·     Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses,
rental obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body
corporate costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken
into account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.

The current Members of Parliament (Accommodation Services for Members and
Travel Services for Family Members) Determination 2023 (the
determination), which was issued by the Authority on 3 August 2023,
contains the current accommodation services provided for Ministers and
members of Parliament (MPs). Here is a link to the determination:

[2]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/secondar...

The determination specifies the maximum amounts that Ministers and MPs can
claim in the form of expenses for accommodation in Wellington.

I draw your attention to the explanatory memorandum appended to the
determination. It sets out the starting points and rationale for the
current level of accommodation expenses and describes the process that was
followed in making the Determination.

The determination addresses the first and second bullet points listed
above.

Regarding the third bullet point listed above, the information you have
requested is contained in seven separate PDFs which contain the publicly
available source information (see appendix 1) that the Authority took into
account when determining the type and level of accommodation payments able
to be claimed by Ministers and MPs. Due to the large number of documents
and the size of the PDFs.  I am sending you the PDFs in seven separate
emails, the first being this one.  

The Authority is unable to provide you with information that was supplied
to us by the other agencies or which is covered by section 9 (members and
officers to maintain secrecy) of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977.  

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
[3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.  The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [4][email address] or by phone on 0800
802 602.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Mike Kunz

 

--

Mike Kunz

Executive Director - Office of the Remuneration Authority

[5]www.remauthority.govt.nz

 

 

 

Appendix 1:   List of documents (in chronological order) contained in the
attached seven PDFs

No: File name
1 220531 Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx   (extracted from the accommodation
providers' websites)
2 230221 Newshub - Rent hits record high according to latest Trade Me
data _ Newshub.html
3 230223 Interest.Co.NZ Regional median rent.pdf
4 230228 Colliers NZ Hotel Snapshot Q1 2023.pdf
5 230324 Tommy's Rental Market Update - March 2023.pdf
6 230424 NZTE_Hotel_Attraction_Prospectus_281020.pdf
7 230424 RNBZ inflation calculator MPs at $31,000.pdf
8 230424 Scoop » Wellington rents at record high; listings up 40 per
cent.pdf
9 230424 Stats NZ consumers-price-index-march-2023-quarter.xlsx
10 230424 Stuff By the numbers_ The rental market at year’s end 2022.pdf
11 230424 Trade Me Rental Price Index data reveals where rents increased
the most in 2022.pdf
12 230426  One News Trade Me Rental prices at all-time high, up 4% from a
year ago.pdf
13 230426 Figure NZ Median_weekly_rents_by_region_in_New_Zealand.png
14 230426 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-january-2023.xlsx
15 230428 Trade Me Rental Index Aotearoa rents hit $600 for the first
time Feb 20.pdf
16 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Explained.pdf
17 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rental Bond Data.pdf
18 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents 31 March 2023.xlsx
19 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services  Rental Bond Data Wgtn City from
1993.xlsx
20 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Kelburn 31 March 2023.pdf
21 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Mount Victoria 31 March
2023.pdf
22 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Northland 31 March 2023.pdf
23 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Pipitea 31 March 2023.pdf
24 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Roseneath 31 March 2023.pdf
25 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Te Aro 31 March 2023.pdf
26 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Thorndon 31 March 2023.pdf
27 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wadestown 31 March 2023.pdf
28 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wgtn Central 31 March
2023.pdf
29 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents Wgtn City 31 March 2023.xlsx
30 230505 Hotel Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx  (extracted from the
accommodation providers' websites)
31 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.docx
32 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.pdf
33 230509 Stats NZ CPI Actual Rentals for Housing Wellington
Quarterly.xlsx
34 230509 Stats NZ Rental price indexes_ March 2023.pdf
35 230509 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-march-2023.xlsx
36 230516 STUFF Property investors 'facing equivalent of 10.5% interest
rate', investor says _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
37 230516 STUFF Rental asking price remain stagnant for third month in a
row_ Trade Me _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
38 230619 Ministers
Executive-Expense-Disclosure-January-to-March-2023.xlsx
39 230619 MPs
disclosure-of-members-expenses-from-1-january-to-31-march-2023.xlsx

 

 

From: MaSS info <[6][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:11 am
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[7][FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Partial transfer of request

 

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [8][email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[9]dia.govt.nz | [10]Facebook | [11]LinkedIn

[12]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

James Welsh OIA request PDF file 5 attached as per response below

.

From: Info - Remuneration Authority
Sent: Thursday, 2 July 2026 4:06 pm
To: [1][FOI #34768 email]
Subject: Partial transfer of request: One Housing Rule for Ministers,
Another for Everyone Else? (No. 1)

 

Tēnā koe James Welsh

On 11 June 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs transferred part of
your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, dated 22 May 2026,
to the Remuneration Authority (the Authority), specifically your request
for:

·     Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or
internal procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

·     All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and members of Parliament,
including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or necessary
accommodation cost in Wellington.

·     Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses,
rental obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body
corporate costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken
into account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.

The current Members of Parliament (Accommodation Services for Members and
Travel Services for Family Members) Determination 2023 (the
determination), which was issued by the Authority on 3 August 2023,
contains the current accommodation services provided for Ministers and
members of Parliament (MPs). Here is a link to the determination:

[2]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/secondar...

The determination specifies the maximum amounts that Ministers and MPs can
claim in the form of expenses for accommodation in Wellington.

I draw your attention to the explanatory memorandum appended to the
determination. It sets out the starting points and rationale for the
current level of accommodation expenses and describes the process that was
followed in making the Determination.

The determination addresses the first and second bullet points listed
above.

Regarding the third bullet point listed above, the information you have
requested is contained in seven separate PDFs which contain the publicly
available source information (see appendix 1) that the Authority took into
account when determining the type and level of accommodation payments able
to be claimed by Ministers and MPs. Due to the large number of documents
and the size of the PDFs.  I am sending you the PDFs in seven separate
emails, the first being this one.  

The Authority is unable to provide you with information that was supplied
to us by the other agencies or which is covered by section 9 (members and
officers to maintain secrecy) of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977.  

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
[3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.  The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [4][email address] or by phone on 0800
802 602.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Mike Kunz

 

--

Mike Kunz

Executive Director - Office of the Remuneration Authority

[5]www.remauthority.govt.nz

 

 

 

Appendix 1:   List of documents (in chronological order) contained in the
attached seven PDFs

No: File name
1 220531 Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx   (extracted from the accommodation
providers' websites)
2 230221 Newshub - Rent hits record high according to latest Trade Me
data _ Newshub.html
3 230223 Interest.Co.NZ Regional median rent.pdf
4 230228 Colliers NZ Hotel Snapshot Q1 2023.pdf
5 230324 Tommy's Rental Market Update - March 2023.pdf
6 230424 NZTE_Hotel_Attraction_Prospectus_281020.pdf
7 230424 RNBZ inflation calculator MPs at $31,000.pdf
8 230424 Scoop » Wellington rents at record high; listings up 40 per
cent.pdf
9 230424 Stats NZ consumers-price-index-march-2023-quarter.xlsx
10 230424 Stuff By the numbers_ The rental market at year’s end 2022.pdf
11 230424 Trade Me Rental Price Index data reveals where rents increased
the most in 2022.pdf
12 230426  One News Trade Me Rental prices at all-time high, up 4% from a
year ago.pdf
13 230426 Figure NZ Median_weekly_rents_by_region_in_New_Zealand.png
14 230426 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-january-2023.xlsx
15 230428 Trade Me Rental Index Aotearoa rents hit $600 for the first
time Feb 20.pdf
16 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Explained.pdf
17 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rental Bond Data.pdf
18 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents 31 March 2023.xlsx
19 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services  Rental Bond Data Wgtn City from
1993.xlsx
20 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Kelburn 31 March 2023.pdf
21 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Mount Victoria 31 March
2023.pdf
22 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Northland 31 March 2023.pdf
23 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Pipitea 31 March 2023.pdf
24 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Roseneath 31 March 2023.pdf
25 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Te Aro 31 March 2023.pdf
26 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Thorndon 31 March 2023.pdf
27 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wadestown 31 March 2023.pdf
28 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wgtn Central 31 March
2023.pdf
29 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents Wgtn City 31 March 2023.xlsx
30 230505 Hotel Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx  (extracted from the
accommodation providers' websites)
31 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.docx
32 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.pdf
33 230509 Stats NZ CPI Actual Rentals for Housing Wellington
Quarterly.xlsx
34 230509 Stats NZ Rental price indexes_ March 2023.pdf
35 230509 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-march-2023.xlsx
36 230516 STUFF Property investors 'facing equivalent of 10.5% interest
rate', investor says _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
37 230516 STUFF Rental asking price remain stagnant for third month in a
row_ Trade Me _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
38 230619 Ministers
Executive-Expense-Disclosure-January-to-March-2023.xlsx
39 230619 MPs
disclosure-of-members-expenses-from-1-january-to-31-march-2023.xlsx

 

 

From: MaSS info <[6][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:11 am
To: '[FOI #34768 email]'
<[7][FOI #34768 email]>
Subject: Partial transfer of request

 

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [8][email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[9]dia.govt.nz | [10]Facebook | [11]LinkedIn

[12]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

James Welsh OIA request PDF file 6 attached as per response below

.

From: Info - Remuneration Authority
Sent: Thursday, 2 July 2026 4:06 pm
To: [1][FYI request #34768 email]
Subject: Partial transfer of request: One Housing Rule for Ministers,
Another for Everyone Else? (No. 1)

 

Tēnā koe James Welsh

On 11 June 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs transferred part of
your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, dated 22 May 2026,
to the Remuneration Authority (the Authority), specifically your request
for:

·     Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or
internal procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

·     All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and members of Parliament,
including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or necessary
accommodation cost in Wellington.

·     Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses,
rental obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body
corporate costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken
into account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.

The current Members of Parliament (Accommodation Services for Members and
Travel Services for Family Members) Determination 2023 (the
determination), which was issued by the Authority on 3 August 2023,
contains the current accommodation services provided for Ministers and
members of Parliament (MPs). Here is a link to the determination:

[2]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/secondar...

The determination specifies the maximum amounts that Ministers and MPs can
claim in the form of expenses for accommodation in Wellington.

I draw your attention to the explanatory memorandum appended to the
determination. It sets out the starting points and rationale for the
current level of accommodation expenses and describes the process that was
followed in making the Determination.

The determination addresses the first and second bullet points listed
above.

Regarding the third bullet point listed above, the information you have
requested is contained in seven separate PDFs which contain the publicly
available source information (see appendix 1) that the Authority took into
account when determining the type and level of accommodation payments able
to be claimed by Ministers and MPs. Due to the large number of documents
and the size of the PDFs.  I am sending you the PDFs in seven separate
emails, the first being this one.  

The Authority is unable to provide you with information that was supplied
to us by the other agencies or which is covered by section 9 (members and
officers to maintain secrecy) of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977.  

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
[3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.  The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [4][email address] or by phone on 0800
802 602.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Mike Kunz

 

--

Mike Kunz

Executive Director - Office of the Remuneration Authority

[5]www.remauthority.govt.nz

 

 

 

Appendix 1:   List of documents (in chronological order) contained in the
attached seven PDFs

No: File name
1 220531 Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx   (extracted from the accommodation
providers' websites)
2 230221 Newshub - Rent hits record high according to latest Trade Me
data _ Newshub.html
3 230223 Interest.Co.NZ Regional median rent.pdf
4 230228 Colliers NZ Hotel Snapshot Q1 2023.pdf
5 230324 Tommy's Rental Market Update - March 2023.pdf
6 230424 NZTE_Hotel_Attraction_Prospectus_281020.pdf
7 230424 RNBZ inflation calculator MPs at $31,000.pdf
8 230424 Scoop » Wellington rents at record high; listings up 40 per
cent.pdf
9 230424 Stats NZ consumers-price-index-march-2023-quarter.xlsx
10 230424 Stuff By the numbers_ The rental market at year’s end 2022.pdf
11 230424 Trade Me Rental Price Index data reveals where rents increased
the most in 2022.pdf
12 230426  One News Trade Me Rental prices at all-time high, up 4% from a
year ago.pdf
13 230426 Figure NZ Median_weekly_rents_by_region_in_New_Zealand.png
14 230426 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-january-2023.xlsx
15 230428 Trade Me Rental Index Aotearoa rents hit $600 for the first
time Feb 20.pdf
16 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Explained.pdf
17 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rental Bond Data.pdf
18 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents 31 March 2023.xlsx
19 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services  Rental Bond Data Wgtn City from
1993.xlsx
20 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Kelburn 31 March 2023.pdf
21 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Mount Victoria 31 March
2023.pdf
22 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Northland 31 March 2023.pdf
23 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Pipitea 31 March 2023.pdf
24 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Roseneath 31 March 2023.pdf
25 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Te Aro 31 March 2023.pdf
26 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Thorndon 31 March 2023.pdf
27 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wadestown 31 March 2023.pdf
28 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wgtn Central 31 March
2023.pdf
29 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents Wgtn City 31 March 2023.xlsx
30 230505 Hotel Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx  (extracted from the
accommodation providers' websites)
31 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.docx
32 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.pdf
33 230509 Stats NZ CPI Actual Rentals for Housing Wellington
Quarterly.xlsx
34 230509 Stats NZ Rental price indexes_ March 2023.pdf
35 230509 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-march-2023.xlsx
36 230516 STUFF Property investors 'facing equivalent of 10.5% interest
rate', investor says _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
37 230516 STUFF Rental asking price remain stagnant for third month in a
row_ Trade Me _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
38 230619 Ministers
Executive-Expense-Disclosure-January-to-March-2023.xlsx
39 230619 MPs
disclosure-of-members-expenses-from-1-january-to-31-march-2023.xlsx

 

 

From: MaSS info <[6][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:11 am
To: '[FYI request #34768 email]'
<[7][FYI request #34768 email]>
Subject: Partial transfer of request

 

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [8][email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[9]dia.govt.nz | [10]Facebook | [11]LinkedIn

[12]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

James Welsh OIA request PDF file 7 attached as per response below

.

From: Info - Remuneration Authority
Sent: Thursday, 2 July 2026 4:06 pm
To: [1][FYI request #34768 email]
Subject: Partial transfer of request: One Housing Rule for Ministers,
Another for Everyone Else? (No. 1)

 

Tēnā koe James Welsh

On 11 June 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs transferred part of
your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, dated 22 May 2026,
to the Remuneration Authority (the Authority), specifically your request
for:

·     Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or
internal procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

·     All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and members of Parliament,
including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or necessary
accommodation cost in Wellington.

·     Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses,
rental obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body
corporate costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken
into account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.

The current Members of Parliament (Accommodation Services for Members and
Travel Services for Family Members) Determination 2023 (the
determination), which was issued by the Authority on 3 August 2023,
contains the current accommodation services provided for Ministers and
members of Parliament (MPs). Here is a link to the determination:

[2]https://www.legislation.govt.nz/secondar...

The determination specifies the maximum amounts that Ministers and MPs can
claim in the form of expenses for accommodation in Wellington.

I draw your attention to the explanatory memorandum appended to the
determination. It sets out the starting points and rationale for the
current level of accommodation expenses and describes the process that was
followed in making the Determination.

The determination addresses the first and second bullet points listed
above.

Regarding the third bullet point listed above, the information you have
requested is contained in seven separate PDFs which contain the publicly
available source information (see appendix 1) that the Authority took into
account when determining the type and level of accommodation payments able
to be claimed by Ministers and MPs. Due to the large number of documents
and the size of the PDFs.  I am sending you the PDFs in seven separate
emails, the first being this one.  

The Authority is unable to provide you with information that was supplied
to us by the other agencies or which is covered by section 9 (members and
officers to maintain secrecy) of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977.  

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a
complaint to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
[3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.  The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [4][email address] or by phone on 0800
802 602.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Mike Kunz

 

--

Mike Kunz

Executive Director - Office of the Remuneration Authority

[5]www.remauthority.govt.nz

 

 

 

Appendix 1:   List of documents (in chronological order) contained in the
attached seven PDFs

No: File name
1 220531 Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx   (extracted from the accommodation
providers' websites)
2 230221 Newshub - Rent hits record high according to latest Trade Me
data _ Newshub.html
3 230223 Interest.Co.NZ Regional median rent.pdf
4 230228 Colliers NZ Hotel Snapshot Q1 2023.pdf
5 230324 Tommy's Rental Market Update - March 2023.pdf
6 230424 NZTE_Hotel_Attraction_Prospectus_281020.pdf
7 230424 RNBZ inflation calculator MPs at $31,000.pdf
8 230424 Scoop » Wellington rents at record high; listings up 40 per
cent.pdf
9 230424 Stats NZ consumers-price-index-march-2023-quarter.xlsx
10 230424 Stuff By the numbers_ The rental market at year’s end 2022.pdf
11 230424 Trade Me Rental Price Index data reveals where rents increased
the most in 2022.pdf
12 230426  One News Trade Me Rental prices at all-time high, up 4% from a
year ago.pdf
13 230426 Figure NZ Median_weekly_rents_by_region_in_New_Zealand.png
14 230426 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-january-2023.xlsx
15 230428 Trade Me Rental Index Aotearoa rents hit $600 for the first
time Feb 20.pdf
16 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Explained.pdf
17 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rental Bond Data.pdf
18 230504  MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents 31 March 2023.xlsx
19 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services  Rental Bond Data Wgtn City from
1993.xlsx
20 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Kelburn 31 March 2023.pdf
21 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Mount Victoria 31 March
2023.pdf
22 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Northland 31 March 2023.pdf
23 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Pipitea 31 March 2023.pdf
24 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Roseneath 31 March 2023.pdf
25 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Te Aro 31 March 2023.pdf
26 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Thorndon 31 March 2023.pdf
27 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wadestown 31 March 2023.pdf
28 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rent Wgtn Central 31 March
2023.pdf
29 230504 MBIE Tenancy Services Market Rents Wgtn City 31 March 2023.xlsx
30 230505 Hotel Accommodation rates NZ.xlsx  (extracted from the
accommodation providers' websites)
31 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.docx
32 230508 Trade Me Rental Price Index February 2023.pdf
33 230509 Stats NZ CPI Actual Rentals for Housing Wellington
Quarterly.xlsx
34 230509 Stats NZ Rental price indexes_ March 2023.pdf
35 230509 Stats NZ rental-price-indexes-march-2023.xlsx
36 230516 STUFF Property investors 'facing equivalent of 10.5% interest
rate', investor says _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
37 230516 STUFF Rental asking price remain stagnant for third month in a
row_ Trade Me _ Stuff.co.nz.pdf
38 230619 Ministers
Executive-Expense-Disclosure-January-to-March-2023.xlsx
39 230619 MPs
disclosure-of-members-expenses-from-1-january-to-31-march-2023.xlsx

 

 

From: MaSS info <[6][email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:11 am
To: '[FYI request #34768 email]'
<[7][FYI request #34768 email]>
Subject: Partial transfer of request

 

Dear James

I refer to your official information request dated 22 May 2026 for
information on ministers’ allowances.

We have transferred part of your request to the Remuneration Authority
Part of the information to which your request relates , namely

o Any documents recording housing costs, accommodation expenses, rental
obligations, ownership costs, mortgage-related costs, body corporate
costs, rates, insurance costs, or other expenses that were taken into
account when determining entitlement to accommodation allowance
payments.
o All documents recording the rationale for the current level of
accommodation allowance payable to Ministers and Members of
Parliament, including any analysis of what constitutes a reasonable or
necessary accommodation cost in Wellington.
o Any guidance, policies, manuals, operational instructions, or internal
procedures used to verify that accommodation allowance payments
reflect genuine accommodation expenses.

 

is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Remuneration
Authority. In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the
OIA to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Remuneration Authority concerning that part
of your request. They can be contacted at: [8][email address].

Yours sincerely

Philip

 

 

Philip (Piripi) Rossiter | Senior Advisor, Official Correspondence
Partnerships and Commissions | Te Aukaha
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[9]dia.govt.nz | [10]Facebook | [11]LinkedIn

[12]Logo: Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections