Sports Minister Anika Wells has confirmed she will attend this year’s AFL Grand Final, insisting it is important for ministers to be “on the ground” at major sporting events.

She confirmed her attendance on Sunday after noticeably stepping back from marquee events in the wake of her travel and expenses scandal.

Ms Wells was ordered to pay back $10,000 in parliamentary travel costs, including a family flight home from the 2025 AFL Grand Final, after breaching expense rules.

But the Communications and Sports Minister was back at the AFL on Saturday night to watch the Brisbane Lions defeat the Adelaide Crows.

Asked whether she planned to attend the AFL Grand Final if the Lions made it that far, Ms Wells said she would be there, rain, hail or shine.

“Whether the Lions get there or not, I will be there because it’s a huge event in both the Communications and Sports stakeholder calendars,” Ms Wells told the ABC.

“I see dozens of my stakeholders in that room. It’s a great opportunity for us to confer briefly rather than planning meetings months in advance.

“Everybody – be it broadcast CEOs, be it national sport organisations executives – expect to be able to see their Sport Minister to be on the ground.”

The declaration marks a return to the major sporting-event circuit for Ms Wells after she was effectively “benched” from sporting events.

News24.com.au revealed in February that Ms Wells had skipped a string of marquee events over the summer.

It was a dramatic change for a minister once dubbed the “Minister for Scarves” for regularly appearing at sporting events around the country.

News24.com.au analysis at the time found Ms Wells had attended at least 10 sporting events during the summer of 2024-25.

But during the 2025-26 summer, she appeared to attend only two minor sporting events, both in her hometown of Brisbane.

Her retreat from the sporting calendar followed intense scrutiny of her use of taxpayer-funded travel.

Ms Wells was forced to pay back more than $10,000 in taxpayer funds for family trips which did not meet regulations governing parliamentary benefits.

While Ms Wells will attend the AFL Grand Final, she has been benched from the government’s trip to New York for the UN General Assembly.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to spruik the government’s social media crackdown in New York, but Ms Wells will be absent.

It comes after Ms Wells charged taxpayers almost $100,000 for a three-day summit to New York in 2025.

News24.com.au asked Ms Wells on Tuesday if she would be attending the New York UN General Assembly in September, but she dodged the question.

Asked again, Mr Albanese stepped in and said Ms Wells attended last year’s conference for a “specific event”.

“The minister went to a News Corp sponsored event in New York (in 2025)… That was for a specific event that was there,” Mr Albanese said on Tuesday.

“This time around in New York, we’ll be having our launch of the UN Security Council bid but also work on climate change… I can confirm that I will be travelling there.”

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