Every day spent out of the country is a day not working. Members of Parliament are elected to be in Parliament, not in the Koru Club or frequent flyer club, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.

The needs of our mamas and papas, our depleted police force, our workers juggling two or three jobs, our mapu trying to find a living wage and meaning to stay at home, our young families struggling to pay the bills and put a roof over their heads, and our Pa Metua surviving on a pension – these are the people who desperately need our Members of Parliament to simply do their job: Stay home and get to work.

Be in Parliament and focus on the business of Parliament, including legislation and more than just the budget appropriation, so we can thrive, not just survive. Outdated legislation leads to outdated tools to build our country. If you want to build a vaka with a butter knife, be my guest, but we need a chainsaw and chisel to do the job. The “chainsaw and chisel” are a bolstered Crown Law Office, skilled legislation drafters, and Members of Parliament who sit in Parliament to get the job done.

As New Zealand’s Parliament is inundated with more than 300,000 submissions regarding the Treaty Principles Bill, and supported by a well-attended Hikoi through central Avarua, our own Parliament met for just 14 days last year. And although a target has been set for 39 days this year, none of us expect that number to be achieved, especially with the suggestion of voting by proxy, or giving it to someone else while you’re overseas.

I’ve spoken with several Government MPs, who are also concerned about the lack of Parliament sittings compared to the amount of travel, with the MP for RAPPA and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Albert Nicholas, saying in Parliament, “If I ever become Prime Minister of the country, my first order of business would be to ban all overseas travel.”

I believe that platform alone would gain wide support, Mr. Nicholas, alongside a moratorium on travel until our roads are fixed, our hospitals updated, our schools staffed with more teachers, and the nearly $900,000 spent on predominantly unnecessary travel – let alone the per diem and allowances that are pocketed, invested back into our people. This is the kind of leadership we need as a country.

The Leader of the Cook Islands United Party, Papa Teariki Heather, also captures many of our sentiments when he said, “The Government is spending more time overseas than here in the country,” with the Leader of the Opposition Tina Browne adding that “unless the Government gets its priorities in order, our people should expect the trend of poor performance to continue”. Though the Leader of the Opposition may also want to publicly account for why her travel is one of the highest of all travel expenses.

Reading through the parliamentary report on travel and the few public report-backs available, trips to Azerbaijan, Dubai, and other remote meetings and conferences do little, if anything, for our country. Every day spent out of the country is a day not working. Members of Parliament are elected to be in Parliament, not in the Koru Club or frequent flyer club.

The suggestion to adopt New Zealand Parliament’s proxy voting should also include adopting the number of days New Zealand MPs sit in Parliament, which is 84 days a year minimum – you can’t have one without the other.

Proxy voting is used in New Zealand’s Parliament, but under strict conditions and only when two-thirds of the members are present in Parliament and on precinct, because travel is an MP’s privilege, not a luxury on the public purse.

Maybe, in light of calls for moratoriums – especially regarding the seabed, seafloor, and potential seabed harvesting – we are missing the moratorium we need right now. It’s very difficult to do your job if you’re not in the country. Apart from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, where travel is essential to the portfolio, perhaps a moratorium on travel is something we should consider.

So, what is our expectation for our Members of Parliament, and maybe that is where we need to see the change first. Should we demand more than cutting down our trees, digging our graves, or travelling the world? And if so, maybe, just maybe, the need for change actually starts with us. Too much is given, much is expected, the Bible clearly commands of our leaders and of ourselves.