South Australian MPs’ cars subsidy runs up $8 million bill

TAXPAYERS have forked out up to $8 million for a car-leasing scheme that has frozen state MPs’ motoring costs for the past decade.

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TAXPAYERS have forked out up to $8 million for a car-leasing scheme that has frozen state MPs’ motoring costs for the past decade.

Revelations that politicians from both sides of Parliament have paid a flat $7000 a year since 2005 to lease a car — with all running costs such as petrol and registration included — has prompted calls for an urgent review of the scheme.

The leasing fee has been frozen despite motoring costs such as petrol increasing from a monthly average of 97c a litre when the scheme was introduced to $1.25 a litre and registration fees rising every year.

While the leasing fee for the private cars — which can also be used by an MP’s spouse and children — has remained unchanged, the costs to taxpayers has soared from $195,000 in 2005-06 to almost $880,000 last financial year.

The scheme’s cost peaked at $982,000 in 2012-13.

In that time, the annual base salary for state MPs has risen from about $100,000 to more than $150,000.

The Government was unable to provide the total cost of the scheme, but The Advertiser can reveal it has averaged $886,000 a year for at least the past seven years.

Of the 69 MPs in State Parliament, 56 took advantage of the subsidised private car scheme this year — including disgraced former Labor MP Bernie Finnigan. Also among these MPs is Premier Jay Weatherill and 12 ministers — all of whom have access to a luxury chauffeur-driven car.

Social Housing Minister Zoe Bettison is the only minister who does without two taxpayer-subsidised cars.

Senior Liberal Opposition MPs also enjoy a private car and chauffeured car, including party leader Steven Marshall.

Although the Government has promoted green energy and the Premier has said his aim is to make Adelaide’s CBD carbon-neutral, only Greens MP Mark Parnell and Environment Minister Ian Hunter lease a hybrid car. The others drive Holden Commodore sedans or, for a slightly higher fee, a Holden Caprice, with all costs such as insurance and servicing and tyres included.

The SA Federation of Resident and Ratepayers’ Association said a review of the lease fee was “a long time overdue’’.

President Kevin Kaeding said South Australians would love a decade-long price freeze on motoring costs and “I can’t believe it’s been 10 years and the lease fee hasn’t budged’’.

Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent, who leases a car, also believes the scheme should be overhauled.

The Government said it had recently reviewed MP entitlements and the “cost of the scheme to taxpayers has not increased over the last decade’’.