Federal Communication and Sport Minister Anika Wells has come under scrutiny in recent days following revelations about her travel expense claims.
The Opposition has called for a review of taxpayer-funded travel to New York and with family in Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended Wells’ expenses, saying they were all “within guidelines”.
Rules
Politicians can be reimbursed for a range of work-related charges, governed by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA).
The IPEA says business expenses must:
- be for “the dominant purpose of conducting parliamentary business,”
- use taxpayer money “efficiently, effectively and economically”
- be incurred in good faith.
It also requires politicians to be “personally responsible and accountable” for their spending.
IPEA defines reasons for travel as activities related to their electorate, ministerial position, political party, or as a member of Parliament.
Parliamentarians have a designated budget, and must report all travel expenses to IPEA.
They can claim expenses for family members’ travel from their “home base” to Canberra — up to nine business class return airfares for a spouse and three economy return airfares for each dependent child.
Parliamentarians can also claim up to three return business class airfares for family members to accompany them on “parliamentary business” in Australia.
Wells
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Wells is the Minister for Sport and Communication.
While speaking at the National Press Club on Wednesday about the upcoming social media ban, Wells faced questions from journalists about a trip to New York that cost almost $100,000.
Wells and two of her staffers travelled to New York to host an event called ‘Protecting children in the digital age’ at the UN General Assembly, where she promoted the social media ban. She called the trip “incredibly important,” saying it “fuelled a global momentum“.
The Sydney Morning Herald has since reported that Wells expensed an official trip to Adelaide that coincided with a friend’s birthday party, while The Australian Financial Review reported she expensed a 2024 trip to Melbourne for the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The Herald also reported that when Wells travelled to Thredbo for a Para snow-sports event, her family joined her for the weekend.
Wells travelled toFrance three times in 12 months to attend the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
On Monday, The Herald reported Wells expensed flights for her husband to join her at the AFL grand finals from 2022 to 2024.
Responses
Speaking to the ABC on Sunday, Albanese said the trip to New York for the UN General Assembly was an “important event that directly led to the European Union taking action.”
Albanese said he had approved the last-minute flights after directing Wells to delay her trip due to the Optus Triple Zero outages.
Addressing the Thredbo trip, Albanese said it was “within entitlements and Anika Wells was working on that trip as Sports Minister.”
At a press conference on Sunday, Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson said: “If [Wells] wants to attend a birthday party of a friend... if she wants to take her family on a ski holiday, she can pay for it herself.”
Addressing Albanese’s claim that the expenses were within guidelines, Paterson said: “Just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be done.”
He said the expenses “should be referred to the IPEA for review to make sure it’s actually within the rules”.
