Anthony Albanese seeks advice from Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority on entitlements
The Prime Minister has revealed a second Labor minister has referred their expenses for review, as he seeks advice from the watchdog.
Anthony Albanese says he has sought advice from the independent watchdog on whether parliamentary entitlement rules should change, amid a lengthy travel expenses saga.
“At least two members of parliament have referred themselves for the details of their audit, but in addition to that, I’ve said to (the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority), ‘Please give us some advice,’” the Prime Minister told reporters on Friday.
“And when that advice is received, we’ll make a decision in the usual way, but it’s important to get that advice.”
It comes after revelations communications and sports minister Anika Wells spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in family reunion expenses to take her husband and children to an F1 Grand Prix, three AFL grand finals, and cricket Test matches.
Ms Wells has defended her spending as being within IPEA rules, and self-referred her expenditure for independent review.
On Friday, a government spokesperson confirmed Attorney-General Michelle Rowland had also referred a 2023 expense for independent review.
It comes after the Australian Financial Review revealed this week Ms Rowland billed taxpayers more than $21k for a 2023 family trip to Perth that fell at the same time as school holidays.
The issue has raised questions as to whether the guidelines should be changed to better fit community expectations.
‘Scandalous’: Ley hits out at Wells
Sussan Ley has offered to meet with Anthony Albanese to develop reforms to parliamentary expense guidelines.
On Friday, the Opposition Leader announced she had written to the Prime Minister and requested a meeting to develop a bipartisan position on the IPEA guidelines, while also demanding sports and communications Anika Wells be investigated under the Minsterial Code of Conduct, as per a Sky News report.
Labor was “running a mile from trust, public trust, accountability and not meeting the standard that all Australians would expect of them”, Ms Ley said.
“What minister Anika Wells has done is scandalous, clearly scandalous, and the whole country is reeling from all of the information that they’ve received about what she has done,” she said.
“She has not shown an ounce of contrition. She has not stepped up and said sorry, or she understands what struggling Australians are going through.
“She hasn’t referred herself to her Prime Minister’s ministerial code of conduct, either, but it is incumbent on the prime minister who trumpeted this code of conduct, who talked about transparency and integrity and new standards.”
Ms Ley herself had resigned from her position as health minister over a similar entitlements scandal almost a decade ago.
It was an example of herself taking accountability, she said.
“I made a mistake. I put my hand up, I apologised to the Australian people, and I held myself accountable to the ministerial code of conduct,” Ms Ley said.
“Anika Wells has not done one of those three things, and this Prime Minister has not addressed his ministerial code of conduct that she has clearly breached, nor has he said she should stand aside while this review and any investigation take place.”
MP takes swipe at PM
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has taken a brutal swipe at Anthony Albanese, amid the ongoing fallout of the expenses saga.
His comments come after the AFR revealed the government twice delayed a formal probe into the entitlements, first until 2026, then to 2027.
On Thursday, Mr Albanese clashed with journalists in a tense press conference after being repeatedly grilled on whether he would tighten the rules.
“I’m not the finance minister. I haven’t changed the rules,” he said.
“[IPEA] were put in place, we certainly would take advice which is there, but I think it’s important, just like the tribunal setting our wages, that I don’t influence that from the top.”
Senator Bragg lashed Mr Albanese’s refusal to outwardly support a review of the rules, saying MPs use of travel entitlements had become a “massive integrity issue”.
Asked whether he would personally welcome a review, Mr Bragg said: “Of course."
I mean, as I say, he’s a very powerful Prime Minister. He’s got massive power. And I think people are starting to see him for who he is,” he said.
“He’s very weak and he’s covering up this massive integrity issue. He could fix this.”
Independent MP Allegra Spender said it would be “reasonable” to review the rules, to ensure they keep in line with community expectations.
“Politics is really hard on families. You know, I’m lucky I live in Sydney, it’s closer than most, but it is really hard on all families,” she said.
“So I think there’s a space for things like family reunion, but people want to make sure that you’re getting value for money and that you’re not taking the piss.”
Ms Spender believed the Albanese government should also “bring forward one of the reviews that they’ve pushed back”, she said.
However, Health Minister Mark Butler later defended the government’s reluctance to influence IPEA by endorsing the authority’s “independence”.
“I think the establishment of that body was a good thing because it meant that weren’t setting our own rules and enforcing our own rules,” he told Channel 7.
“Having that level of independence hope would give the public some assurance that this that’s reflecting the public interest.”
A reasonable balance between the “sensible” use of the rules and entitlements that reflected the “unusual nature” of the job, were important, Mr Butler said.
If IPEA chose to make recommendations following the outcome of the self-referred investigation of into Ms Wells’ expenses, he indicated the government would be open to changing the rules.
”As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we would welcome those recommendations and if they have to be enacted through legislation, I’m sure that’s what we would do,” he said.
Originally published as Anthony Albanese seeks advice from Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority on entitlements
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