A veteran Liberal MP has branded as "shameful" his government's decision to strip the lifetime gold travel pass from retired parliamentarians.
Warren Entsch told parliament it was a knee-jerk reaction by the prime minister that was going to affect people who had long since left politics.
"At the same time, the people making this decision have made sure that they're not going to be impacted by it," he said on Wednesday.
"For all those backbenchers who earned it over an extended period of time, I think it's shameful to take it away from them after they have left parliament."
Mr Entsch said those politicians - who needed to serve seven terms, or 21 years, to be eligible for the pass - have not been given a chance to present their case.
The perk was meant to be an incentive to keep people in parliament 30 or 40 years ago when their pay packets were less generous than now.
"My argument is on behalf of those on all sides of the chamber," he said during debate on the bill in the lower house.
"My key concern is that we are establishing a very dangerous precedent of retrospectivity that can apply to anything in the future."
The 66-year-old, first elected in 1996, argued that if the government wanted to go ahead with scrapping the pass and applying it retrospectively, it should cover everyone, including former prime ministers.
At the very least, he wants it to be limited to ex-PMs who have served a minimum five years, ruling the likes of Tony Abbott, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and even Paul Keating ineligible.
Liberal-turned-independent senator Cory Bernardi has flagged his intention to amend the legislation in the upper house to apply a four-year limit.
Mr Entsch also noted that Malcolm Turnbull's proposed new independent authority to manage parliamentary expenses would "cost more to establish than what they claim the savings are" in relation to the abolition of the gold pass.
"I just find it amazing that they would actually do this," he said.
Labor supports the changes, although leader Bill Shorten hinted the opposition was open to scrapping the gold pass for former prime ministers, too.
"Probably. We will have a look at it," he told reporters in Canberra.
"The reason I say probably is I think our former prime ministers deserve dignity and respect. They do good work for the public; it is a balance proposition."
The bill, which also places limits on travel entitlements for spouses and children, passed the lower house late on Wednesday morning.
