REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

Explanatory Statement: Determination 2014/02
Members of Parliament –Travelling Allowance and Entitlements
1.	The Remuneration Tribunal has inquired into and determined the remuneration and significantly related matters for members of parliament, as it is empowered to do by the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.
2.	In making this Determination the Tribunal has informed itself through consultation in accordance with established practice.
3.	Any retrospective application of this Determination is in accordance with subsection 12(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 as it does not affect the rights of a person (other than the Commonwealth or an authority of the Commonwealth) to that person’s disadvantage, nor does it impose any liability on such a person.

Contents
PART 1 – MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT – TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE
PART 2 – MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT – ENTITLEMENTS

PART 1 – MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT – TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE
4.	Clause 1.1 specifies the Principal Determination (Number 17 of 2013 as amended) for the purposes of Part 1 of the Determination.
5.	Clause 1.2 removes a specific entitlement to travel allowance for travel connected with the office of second deputy speaker in the House of Representatives.
6.	Clause 1.3 and 1.4 increase the number of nights for which a member of the House of Representatives serving an electorate of between 100,000 and 
999,999 sq km in size can claim travelling allowance for travel within his or her electorate.  
7.	Clauses 1.5 and 1.6 specify that all members and senators from Western Australia and Northern Territory, including Ministers and office holders, who wish to claim travelling allowance when they break a journey during travel to Canberra, must certify that the break in journey was caused by there being no same day connecting flight that is reasonably available.
PART 2 – MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT – ENTITLEMENTS
8.	Clause 2.1 specifies the Principal Determination (Number 4 of 2012 as amended) for the purposes of Part 2 of the Determination.
9.	Clause 2.2 increases the amount that a member of the House of Representatives with an electorate of 300,000 sq km or more can spend on charter transport.  
10.	Clause 2.3 changes the definition of accompany, now meaning that persons who accompany a member or senator under family reunion provisions must depart from the final destination no more than 24 hours after the member or senator departs.
11.	Clause 2.4 changes the definition of join, now meaning that persons travelling to join a member or senator under family reunion travel provisions must arrive no more than 24 hours before the senator or member arrives, and must depart no more than 24 hours after the senator or member departs.
12.	Clause 2.5 tightens the provision allowing stop-overs by persons travelling for the purpose of family reunion with a senator or member from Western Australia, the Northern Territory or the remoter parts of Queensland by providing that any such stop-over must be caused by there being no same day connecting flight that is reasonably available.

Authority: Sub-sections 7(1), 7(2) and 7(4)
of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973