Wollongong MP Noreen Hay says tourism in the Illawarra and the expansion of Port Kembla will be the beneficiaries of her study trip to Scotland and England over the parliamentary break.
Ms Hay's 21-day excursion follows on from one to England, Ireland and Canada around the same time last year for 25 days, which cost taxpayers about $12,900.
Ms Hay showed the Mercury a 25-page report she had written about that trip, which includes recommendations she believes could benefit the state and Wollongong in the areas of health, steel, infrastructure and tourism.
Photos show her handing Wollongong tourism brochures to the mayor of Niagara Falls, an area Ms Hay said she visited to see how it overcame a tourism lull post the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"It was a full-on work trip, I can tell you," she said.
Ms Hay said the airfares for this year's trip would be paid for out of her own pocket.
"I'm very proud to say I'll be meeting with senior port people in Scotland and hoping to meet with some in England," Ms Hay said.
She also has plans to observe Scotland's new social housing initiatives and meet tourism officials in both countries.
Legislative Assembly clerk Russell Grove said each MP was allowed 42 days over their parliamentary career for travel paid for out of the public purse. Only 21 consecutive paid days at any one time are allowed.
MPs are given a daily allowance for accommodation, food and other costs of $400 and $8500 in total for travel costs.
Ms Hay said she travels economy for work-related trips and had previously been to Bali at her own expense, promoting the University of Wollongong to post-graduate students.
State Illawarra MPs Paul McLeay, Matt Brown, David Campbell, Lylea McMahon and Shelley Hancock say they have no publicly funded travel plans for the break.
Bega Liberal MP Andrew Constance returned from a $8300 six-day trip on Thursday.
It included two days travelling during which he attended a Bio-Mass Conference in Germany and met with a government minister in Singapore responsible for disability services - the portfolio for which Mr Constance is Opposition spokesman in NSW.
"Bio-Mass generators have been used in Europe for many years and as one is planned for the Bega Valley Shire I felt I should experience for myself the pros and cons of this form of alternative energy," Mr Constance said.
Recent trips by Illawarra MPs include an eight-day study tour to London and Paris by Heathcote MP Mr McLeay starting October last year.
He filed a 22-page report detailing his findings on issues like transport and public policy creation.
Kiama MP Mr Brown said he led a tourism delegation to the United States as Tourism Minister during the G'Day USA Australia Week promotion in January 2008.
He said no report was required to be filed.
Keira MP Mr Campbell, then police minister, and two of his staff, spent $40,000 on a 12-day tour looking at crime-fighting tactics which began on January 30 last year.
As a result, NSW will adopt the Compliance Status Information System, a US crime measurement tool, he said.
Yesterday the Mercury revealed seven former federal MPs spent $201,500 on 508 taxpayer funded flights between January 2001 and June 2008 - all after they had left office.
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