The opposition in the Cook Islands is demanding the government reveal how much public money it spends on international travel each year.
This has long been a bone of contention in the Cooks with successive governments refusing to divulge the cost to the country of MPs, their partners and officials travelling overseas on official business.
Cook Islands News has reported that local media have been seeking the information under the Official Information Act for many years without success.
The deputy opposition leader Tamaiva Tuavera says it has lodged a request with the Ombudsman Office, seeking details on the travel costs accrued by Prime Minister Henry Puna and Finance Minister Mark Brown.
Five years ago Mr Puna promised to lift the ban on the public disclosure of civil list travel costs, but that never happened.
The Cook Islands Parliament in session Photo: Phillipa Webb / Cook Islands News
