HALIFAX -- The monthly expenses filed by Nova Scotia cabinet ministers are now available to the public for the first time online.

Although expense claims filed by members of the legislature have been available online since the fall of 2010, ministerial expenses had only been available in a series of binders kept in the legislative library.

The first online edition lists expenses for each minister and their executive assistants from April 1 to July 31.

The largest expense of about $5,889 was registered by Agriculture Minister Keith Colwell for a nine-day trip to China in June.

Premier Stephen McNeil spent more than $10,500 on a series of six trips over the period including about $4,689 for a multi-city European trade mission in early June.

The smallest expense filed was an 89-cent mileage claim submitted by Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab.