The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, will repay part of the cost of taking her family on a holiday to Western Australia after the independent watchdog found her spending breached the rules.
Rowland confirmed on Sunday she would repay part of the almost $22,000 cost of the travel, which was first reported by the Australian Financial Review last week. The move makes her the first minister to repay taxpayer funds in the growing expenses scandal.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, backed Rowland to keep her job despite the breach and said new advice on politicians’ travel rules would be received from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) soon.
As communications minister, Rowland took family members on flights from Sydney to Perth in the July 2023 NSW school holidays, charging taxpayers $16,000 for the tickets. Rowland’s own fares cost another $4,242, with an additional $1,400 charged for MP travel allowances.
Rowland did not claim any travel allowances and paid for her own expenses and accommodation on the days she did not have official engagements in Perth.
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Ministers and other senior officeholders have unlimited travel allowances for family spending, according to the rules, while family reunion provisions specify MPs can claim three return business-class flights to locations other than Canberra for family each year.
A spokesperson for Rowland said she referred a trip from 2023 to the IPEA for advice.
“During the trip to Perth, the attorney general had at least 10 official engagements,” the spokesperson said.
“IPEA finalised its advice on Friday 12 December and conveyed a portion of the family reunion travel expenses were outside the guidelines.
“The attorney general has formally accepted that advice on Friday and commenced steps to make a repayment.”
Scrutiny on Rowland’s spending followed revelations her successor in the communications portfolio, Anika Wells, spent $100,000 on ministerial travel to New York in September and used family travel entitlements to bring her husband and children to sporting events and to Canberra.
Wells has referred her own expenses to the watchdog for review.
Liberal MP Phil Thompson has also agreed to repay the cost of a family trip from Townsville to Cairns.
Anthony Albanese has asked the IPEA to give the government advice on possible changes to the rules as Labor struggles to contain the expenses scandal.
On Sunday, Chalmers acknowledged frustration about politicians’ expenses, saying media scrutiny was “channelling some fairly substantial concerns out there in the community”.
“These rules are all about trying to ensure that as we go about being the best ministers that we can, that we can also be good parents where we can,” he told Sky News.
“I understand that where the rules reflect that, there’s not a lot of support for that out in the community, but that’s what the rules are about, and we do our best to comply with those rules.”
Chalmers backed Rowland to keep her job as the country’s first law officer, saying he didn’t believe she should quit.
“I think Michelle has done the right thing in asking the IPEA to take another look, as has Anika asked the independent organisation to make sure that everything that’s happened here is within the rules. I think that’s appropriate.
“I also think it’s appropriate that the PM has sought advice. We’ll get that advice in due course, and we’ll consider it.”
There has also been scrutiny on the special minister of state and trade minister, Don Farrell, after Guardian Australia revealed he charged taxpayers more than $2,200 to travel to Canberra on the same weekend he attended a press gallery journalist’s wedding, describing the reason for the trip as official duties.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
