Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has repaid about $8,000 in taxpayer-funded flights taken by her family to Perth, plus an almost $2,000 penalty required by the independent watchdog.
Ms Rowland revealed she would pay back “about $10,000” as a portion of a 2023 work trip to Western Australia, which the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) last year advised included spending that was outside guidelines.
Figures released by IPEA on Wednesday evening confirm Ms Rowland has repaid $7,932 worth of airfares for three family members’ travel from Perth to Sydney two years ago.
She ultimately paid a further $1,983 as an automatic 25 per cent penalty loading applied to any incorrect claim not repaid within 28 days of the travel.
Ms Rowland had originally claimed a total of $21,000 for the week-long trip to Perth in July 2023, which included more than $16,000 in family flights.
She released a statement in December revealing IPEA had advised a “portion of the family reunion travel expenses were outside the guidelines”.
Parliamentarians are permitted to bring their family members to Canberra and other parts of Australia if they are travelling for work, with limits applied to overall spending.
Sport Minister claimed $1,000 for husband to travel to AFL final
Ms Rowland’s repayment followed scrutiny of parliamentarians’ expenses, which was sparked by revelations Communication and Sport Minister Anika Wells had spent thousands of dollars on family travel linked to attendance at major sporting events.
The latest IPEA data shows Ms Wells claimed $316.32 for family travel from Brisbane to Melbourne on September 27 and a further $660.26 for the return trip the next day.
Sport Minister Anika Wells claimed $1,000 for her husband to attend the AFL grand final. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
The flights were for her husband to attend the AFL grand final and were in line with the rules in place at the time.
Ms Wells’s own travel to the grand final cost about $1,792.
There appear to be no charges for COMCAR use related to the weekend.
Family travel scrutiny sparks rule changes
Last year’s expenses scandal prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to request the independent renumeration tribunal restrict the rules around family travel to bring them more in line with community expectations.
He requested an end to business class flights for spouses and for limitations on non-Canberra family travel.
In January the tribunal agreed to limit spouses to economy class flights but allowed for parliamentarians to claim one family travel trip outside of Canberra a year.
Senior politicians have also retained the ability to charge taxpayers for their spouses to travel to official portfolio-related events if they have been invited, but this has been limited to only three times a year.
In a statement the independent panel said it “considered removing all access to Australia-wide reunion travel”, but noted that while parliamentary work was primarily undertaken in Canberra, it was “not exclusively done so”.
MPs are still allowed to have their families join them in Canberra.
Ms Wells was criticised following revelations she spent more than $8,500 over three years in family travel expenses to Melbourne during AFL grand final weekends, as well as thousands spent flying to Formula 1, cricket and tennis events.
She also charged taxpayers almost $3,000 in July to take her family to Thredbo for a skiing trip, where she attended an event organised by Paralympics Australia.
The minister has maintained all her expenses were within the guidelines but she referred herself to the IPEA for an audit to remove any doubt.
That review is ongoing.
The new guidelines mean Ms Wells would still be allowed to bring her husband to events related to her portfolio — if he receives an invitation — but he would have to fly economy instead of business class.