Child abuse offender Ben Waters racked up nearly $6000 in expenses while working as a senior adviser to Labor’s Nat Cook
Convicted paedophile Ben Waters, once a senior parliamentary adviser, racked up nearly $6000 in expenses – including late-night Uber trips.
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Convicted child abuse offender Ben Waters, who was a senior parliamentary adviser prior to his arrest, racked up nearly $6000 in expenses according to documents released under Freedom of Information laws.
Among reimbursements paid to Waters, who worked in the office of now-Human Services Minister Nat Cook, were 21 night-time Uber trips totalling $770. Some of those trips were taken late on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
The documents, released following an application by the Liberals, cover the period from August, 2019 to March, 2021, when Ms Cook was Labor’s human services spokeswoman while in opposition.
They also show Waters was granted $880 to cover the cost of home internet expenses.
Opposition spokeswoman for government accountability Michelle Lensink said Ms Cook had questions to answer over the reimbursements.
“Ben Waters is a vile creature and South Australians need to be reassured that the taxpayer-funded internet he had access to at home was not used for illegal activities,” she said.
“If it was, he should pay the money back.”
Ms Lensink said the Uber claims appeared to be “a complete abuse of taxpayer money” and “South Australians deserve answers as to the nature of Ben Waters’ unusual trips”.
Other expenses included $501.32 on daytime Uber trips, $1892.59 on phone bills and $1676.26 on interstate food and travel. The total claimed was $5719, the documents showed.
Ms Cook condemned the actions of Waters and said the reimbursements in question related to costs incurred prior to his arrest.
“They were reviewed and processed by the Department of Treasury and Finance and adhered to expenditure guidelines,” she said.
“On no occasion did the former Liberal Treasurer – whose department oversaw electorate office staff and expense – raise this matter with me.”
She said the Liberal government was in power for nearly a year after Waters’ arrest in March, 2021, but no concerns were raised.
“If the Liberals were serious about this, they should have dealt with this while they were in government,” she said.
Waters was handed a home detention sentence for possession of more than 600 child abuse images and videos on two USBs.
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