BAROSSA-based MPs would be ineligible for the controversial travel allowance, which caused Member for Schubert Stephan Knoll to resign last month, under a Labor push to change the payment’s rules.

The Country Members Travel Allowance currently allows MPs who live more than 75km from the Adelaide General Post Office to claim $234 a night when they need to stay in Adelaide for parliamentary business.

Conjecture over how and when members are eligible to claim the allowance led to more than $100,000 in taxpayer money being repaid by country MPs last month.

Three State Government ministers, including Mr Knoll, Legislative Council president Terry Stephens and Liberal party whip Adrian Pederick also resigned from their positions over the scandal.

The South Australian Remuneration Tribunal is currently reviewing the payment, with Labor pushing for the 75km limit to be increased in the future.

Opposition treasury spokesperson Stephen Mullighan told The Bunyip new road infrastructure, such as the Northern Connector, had made travel to and from the Barossa simpler and faster.

“Most people would recognise that having some form of allowance for people who live in regional South Australia to be able to participate in parliament and other parliamentary work is absolutely a good thing to have,” he said.

“But in the last 10-15 years we’ve had the Northern Expressway, Northern Connector and South Road Superway built and that’s knocked off a lot of time off the journey to the Barossa.

“We think the 75km threshold is due for a review and I’ve written to the remuneration tribunal to look that.

“A lot of people are doing that daily journey (from the Barossa to Adelaide) for work purposes or perhaps they’re volunteers and carers, and aren’t getting any allowance.”

Mr Mullighan said Labor was yet to decide on a new minimum distance from Adelaide it would like to see implemented.