Minister for the Illawarra Greg Pearce has had 15 taxpayer-funded four-star hotel stays in the region during his two-year tenure, but will not reveal the official reasons behind his visits.
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According to media reports, Mr Pearce spent $22,000 on 39 domestic trips from June 2011 to May this year.
Yesterday, Mr Pearce's office told the Mercury all overnight trips taken by the Minister for the Illawarra were within government guidelines but refused to give details of the reasons for any of his 15 overnight visits to Wollongong, Kiama and the Shoalhaven.
Mr Pearce said in a statement that his Illawarra role included public functions and private meetings with stakeholders.
"I take my role as minister very seriously and welcome the opportunity to promote the work of government and the Illawarra whenever I can," he said.
"I work most weekends and wish I had more time to spend in the Illawarra for the benefit of the region and will continue to work hard to benefit its economy and residents."
Premier Barry O'Farrell yesterday said Mr Pearce's job was safe despite continuing controversy, which began when he was escorted allegedly drunk from Parliament in May.
Mr Pearce returned from a month's stress leave two weeks ago after he was found to have misused travel entitlements, and there have also been allegations about conflicts of interest within his ministerial office.
"Being a member of Parliament or being a minister is a seven-day-a-week activity and weekends can be very busy," Mr O'Farrell said.
"I've had events in regional areas that have finished late at night and sometimes it is more convenient, particularly depending on where you're starting the next day, to stay in regional areas."
However, Keira MP Ryan Park said these views were an insult to the thousands of residents who travelled from Wollongong to Sydney for work every day, while Shellharbour MP Anna Watson called for the Premier to sack Mr Pearce.
"Ministers are allocated a driver, for a start, and I'm sure on the odd occasion when things are very late it's probably reasonable to stay," Mr Park said.
"But this is a minister who has been missing in action for the first two years at his post and hasn't really made the Illawarra a priority, so one has to ask: how can he justify this from a minister's perspective when thousands of commuters do it each and every day?
"This is another example of a minster who is not in touch with the community."
Kiama's Liberal MP Gareth Ward said reports of Mr Pearce's numerous overnight stays were a beat-up because they fell well within his ministerial duties.
"If he works on weekends and comes to the Illawarra people complain, and if he doesn't come to the Illawarra people complain," Mr Ward said.
Mr Pearce's office yesterday said he had been in the Illawarra on "ministerial-related issues" four times since returning to work on July 15.
These visits had included a media conference at Port Kembla for his first day back on the job, and an appearance at the Digital Economy Conference last week.
He had at least two more trips planned in the next fortnight, a spokeswoman said. None of these recent visits required Mr Pearce to stay in the region overnight.
