MPs fly overseas to ‘study’ TikTok and the Taj Mahal

Taxpayers have picked up the bill for Victorian MPs to fly overseas to visit galleries in Milan, learn about TikTok in the United States and pursue “electorate business” in London.

An analysis of parliamentary travel records reveals globetrotting state MPs have taken dozens of “study tours” in the past 18 months, costing taxpayers more than $150,000 – with Liberal MPs responsible for the vast majority of trips since losing the November election.

Victorian MPs visiting the Taj Mahal. Front: Lee Tarlamis (left) and Meng Heang Tak (right). Rear: Dylan Wight (left) and Matt Fregon (centre).

According to parliamentary rules, all 128 state MPs are entitled to a $10,000 parliamentary travel allowance for trips relating to either parliamentary or electorate business. They are required to submit a quarterly budget for all parliamentary expenses including overseas travel.

Since the November election, the 30 members of the Liberal party room have collectively booked 23 overseas trips using their allowances.

Bridget Vallence has planned three taxpayer-funded trips in six months.Credit: Eddie Jim

Labor MPs appear to have heeded the warning of Premier Daniel Andrews, who in March warned government MPs against taxpayer-funded travel given rising cost-of-living pressures. Since the election, just five Labor MPs have used their parliamentary allowances on international travel.

While Andrews has taken only one taxpayer-funded trip since the borders reopened after pandemic lockdowns, Liberal MP Bridget Vallence has invoiced taxpayers for three overseas trips at a cost of more than $9900. Vallence represents the seat of Evelyn which takes in Coldstream, Lilydale and Wonga Park.

She will visit the United Kingdom, Greece and New Zealand on three separate trips over a six-month period on “electorate business” and to pursue “opportunities relevant to the state”.

In July, opposition arts spokesman David Davis spent three weeks in Greece, Italy, France and the United Kingdom where he met “government, regional, municipal and gallery officials” at a cost of $9990. Shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien is currently in the United States for “meetings and policy research” at a cost of $8117.

As a condition of using the allowance, MPs are required to produce a travel report on their findings after they return. They must also state whether the trip relates to “parliamentary business or electorate business”.

Months out from last year’s election, Labor MP Cesar Melhem – who was moved to an unwinnable position on the upper house ticket – was part of a three-MP delegation to the UK costing more than $10,000.

Taxpayers have picked up the bill for Victorian MPs to fly overseas to learn about TikTok, visit galleries in Milan and pursue “electorate business” in London.Credit: Paul Jeffers

Weeks out from the election, two former Labor MPs – Frank McGuire and Dr Tien Kieu – also billed taxpayers for trips overseas before losing their seats.

In the past 18 months, following the reopening of the state’s borders and the rebooting of international travel, dozens of MPs have used their electoral expenses on solo international travel – which doesn’t require pre-approval from the party leader.

In June and July, newly elected MP Chris Crewther spent three weeks on a taxpayer-funded trip to Canada which he wrote was “primarily of benefit for both the Mornington electorate” and his “roles as shadow parliamentary secretary for justice and corrections and Liberal Party Whip”.

According to allowance records, more than 40 per cent of the Liberal Party were scheduled to travel overseas on a taxpayer-funded trip during September 2023.

That included a delegation of Liberal MPs who were due to fly to Israel last weekend for a “study tour” led by the Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council. But the trip was postponed just days before the MPs were due to depart after Victorian Liberal party leadership was served with defamation concern notices by British anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen.

Liberal MPs who have invoiced taxpayers for a trip during this month include former leader Matthew Guy who billed Victorians $8599.84 for a “study tour” to the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires.

Guy doesn’t hold any shadow portfolios, nor is he on any committees, but remains the local MP for Bulleen which takes in the suburbs of Doncaster, Templestowe and Bulleen. During last year’s election campaign, Guy named the Argentinian beach resort town of Mar del Plata as his “dream holiday destination” in an interview with the Berwick Star News.

Labor’s Gary Mass, who represents Narre Warren South, is the only Labor MP to take a solo study tour since the election. In July, Maas travelled to the US on “electorate business” which included attending Netroots Nation, a political conference for progressive political activists.

In his report, Maas said he took part in a session on using social media including TikTok and listened to keynote speakers such as American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, Alicia Garza.

“I enjoyed the keynote sessions – they gave me interesting comparator views to what is happening in our Victorian parliament and indeed to that in a multi-cultural Narre Warren South,” Maas said in his report.

Liberal MPs Brad Battin, Wayne Farnham and Richard Riordan are currently on a three-week study tour of India and Sri Lanka at a total cost of $15,295 to Victorian taxpayers. In April, Liberal MPs Bev McArthur and Renee Heath spent nine nights in Bangkok which included understanding the “Thai experience of partial decriminalisation of cannabis”. Another Liberal MP went on the trip but did not use any taxpayer funds.

In July, McArthur again travelled overseas to South Korea with Liberal MPs Bill Tilley and David Hodgett to “engage in meetings with government and business stakeholders”. During the trip, the trio “experienced using the Seoul Metro system”, visited the Choryang traditional market in the city of Busan and “compared and contrasted (it) with the Queen Victoria Market”, and also took a tour to the Korean Demilitarised Zone.

In response to the travel of Liberal MPs, a spokesperson for Opposition Leader John Pesutto said: “It is the responsibility of individual MPs to ensure that overseas travel meets parliamentary guidelines.”

Only one delegation of Labor MPs has travelled abroad this year. Four MPs – Matt Fregon, Lee Tarlamis, Meng Heang Tak and Dylan Wight – collectively billed taxpayers more than $24,000 for a nine-day tour of India which included a trip to the Taj Mahal.

Embattled former government MP Will Fowles was due to travel to China on a ten-day junket this month alongside Labor MPs Juliana Addison and John Mullahy, but the trip was cancelled after police last month opened a formal investigation into a complaint of alleged assault against Fowles.

A spokesperson for Fowles confirmed the trip had been cancelled and said that “costs will be repaid to the Parliament once the relevant refunds are received”.

While still funded by the taxpayer, ministerial travel isn’t capped in the same way and requires approval from department secretaries. Since the election, the premier and cabinet ministers Ben Carroll, Tim Pallas, Lily D’Ambrosio and Natalie Hutchins have travelled overseas.

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