Ever wondered whether your local MP has other sources of income? Or how many properties they own? Or what gifts and travel come as a perk of the job? Whether state and federal, every South Australian politician has to declare these interests — and we’ve accumulated all the latest data into an easy-to-search register.
The database — which accumulates all the pecuniary interest declarations made by SA’s state and federal politicians — reveals our state politicians own 116 homes and a third of them have family trusts, while six federal MPs own properties in Canberra under rules that allow them to simultaneously collect a $288 a night travel allowance.
First released as part of The Advertiser’s Your Right To Know campaign, the database gives you visibility of each MP’s declared gifts, hospitality, income, employment, land holdings, shares, investments, directorships, memberships of political, trade and professional associations and for the first time, the travel expenses of State and Federal ministers. Filters allow you to sort the MPs by party, upper or lower house and jurisdiction, then click on each MP for a full list of their declarations.
WHAT WE WANTED TO KNOW: What do our MPs own and what gifts do they receive.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The information declares any potential conflict of interest for our state’s political representatives.
HOW EASY IS IT TO FIND:Information for Federal MPs is easily available online. State MPs disclose their interests each year, with the Lower House publishing its report online, but a physical copy needing to be picked up from Parliament House to see the report for Upper House MPs. Ministers also keep gift registers but they’re not published online, or given out unless a freedom of information request is put in.
**This database is current as at Friday, October 18, 2019. Please note, former MPs have been removed from the database.
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