The Remuneration Tribunal has abolished taxpayer-funded study tours and spousal travel for members of the ACT Legislative Assembly, effective immediately.
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The decision was sparked by news that Speaker Vicki Dunne and her husband, and Liberal MLA Giulia Jones and a staff member, are preparing for a $35,000, three-week tour to Sweden, France and South Korea.
The tour of countries with tough prostitution laws was approved by officials before Thursday's decision and will go ahead this month.
While spouses have accompanied politicians on overseas trips before, the trip is the first time study tour allowances have been used to pay for a staff member to travel abroad.
Remuneration Tribunal chairman Anne Cahill Lambert said the body had "acted pre-emptively" to ensure there were no further calls on the travel funds, after learning through media reports about the planned study tour later this month.
"We do think it's unusual that a staff member is using this entitlement as well, and that wasn't the intent," she said.
The decision means accompanied travel for members of the executive and study tours for non-executive members are immediately abolished, with the exception of the already planned tours.
Last year, Labor MLA Mary Porter spent her entire $24,000 allowance studying voluntary euthanasia systems in Europe. On the single most expensive non-executive trip, Ms Porter was accompanied by her husband Ian De Landelles, a media manager with the ACT public service. She met with 40 experts and prepared a lengthy report for the Assembly.
Liberal MLA Steve Doszpot has spent more than $16,000 of his allowance to date, including on travel to London for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
The decision leaves infrequent flyers including Liberal Nicole Lawder and Labor MLA Yvette Berry without the opportunity to access remaining travel allowances for study tours.
The tribunal had foreshadowed in its discussion paper in December that study tour funds were under scrutiny.
Ms Cahill Lambert acknowledged that while some members had used their full $24,000 entitlement already, others had used very little and were now losing the opportunity.
"It's unfortunate, but when we actually did the research on who was taking them and who wasn't over the years, it was a variable feast anyway," she said.
"We need to bring other
entitlements into this century and be a little bit responsible."
In a statement accompanying the decision, the tribunal said entitlement to travel was ''not routinely available to the community''.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher welcomed the decision.
''In my submission to the remuneration tribunal I supported this allowance being considered closely, with specific regard to study trips and spousal travel,'' she said in a statement.
''I don't think it is a priority of the ACT community to fund some of those trips and I question whether they have any clear or useful benefit back to the work of the Legislative Assembly or the Canberra community, especially when budgets are tight and there are a lot of things that need to be done, and if there is a way of offsetting other increases with an existing entitlement then I support that.
''I think this decision is the remuneration tribunal clearly saying they don't want to see any more study trips, post April 3, 2014.''