Christopher Luxon is charging the taxpayer a cool $45,000 a year to rent an office for himself, from himself.
The National leader says he's "very comfortable" with the arrangement - but his constituents, well they've got other ideas.
Beaming out from a Botany corner is a picture of Luxon's face on his electorate office, an office he owns and rents.
"I'm very comfortable. Parliamentary Services are incredibly comfortable with it," Luxon said.
You very comfortably heard that right. In March 2020, four months after he was selected as candidate for Botany, Luxon bought the prime corner spot for an office.
Now he rents it to the taxpayer so he can use it as an office to serve his constituents.
"It's not something I would be very comfortable [with], especially with the cost of living such high," one person said.
"I think I am quite comfortable with that," said another.
Topping the office perks is Luxon's $45,000, then comes Labour's Tracey McLellan at $40,000 and Jenny Salesa with $28,000 - both offices owned by the Labour party.
National's Jacqui Dean rents her office to herself for $15,000.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta rents her office for $13,000. It's not owned by her but it's on Māori land - she's a member of the iwi that owns it.
National's Paul Goldsmith didn't get his returns in on time but he told Newshub he charges $958 a month - the thriftiest of the lot.
"It's all signed off by Parliamentary Services and they pay below market rent," said Luxon.
Monthly market rent on Luxon's property is listed as $3833 - he's undercutting that by a whopping $83 dollars. His annual rent paycheque is shy of a thousand dollars more than a minimum wage worker's annual earnings.
"What's important to me is that I follow all the rules and the rules are followed and that Parliamentary Services are good with it and they are."
There is no suggestion Luxon has broken any rules. His office helpfully dropped off the permission slip to show he hasn't.
This is about optics, and while Luxon may be comfortable with his rent arrangement, arguing the Government is misspending taxpayer money while you're skimming some off the top is a tough argument to win.
