What you said about wife of former MP defending Labor’s Anika Wells over ‘gendered’ criticism

The controversy over Anika Wells’ travel continues to divide many, as a war of words breaks out. HAVE YOUR SAY

Is Anika Wells’ spending out of line? Or is it just because of her gender?

The murky debate surrounding the Minister’s expenses continues to toss up new arguments and accusations … and deliver surprising supporters.

Madeline Simmonds, the wife of former federal Liberal National Party MP Julian Simmonds, threw her support behind the under-fire Ms Wells and her spending.

“The recent controversy surrounding Minister Anika Wells’s spending has triggered another cycle of outrage,” she wrote.

“Much of it loud, simplistic, and detached from the realities of public life.

“As someone married to a former federal Member of Parliament and as a mother of young children, I feel compelled, mother to mother, to speak to an aspect of this debate that is too often ignored.”

To pretend that women in politics like Anika Wells should operate without support, without flexibility, without the ability to stay connected to their families despite punishing demands, is to ignore the structural barriers that keep women out of public life in the first place, argues Madeline Simmonds.

Mrs Simmonds opened up on “the brutal rhythm of political life”.

“Flights and accommodation are expensive,” she wrote.

“But these are not extravagances, they are the basic cost of running a national government in a geographically vast country.

“ … Minister Wells has been vocal about the challenges of social media harms and the need for better protections for young people, an issue that affects families across Australia.

The work of regulating and understanding the digital ecosystem is not done from a single office. It requires travel, consultation, and constant engagement with experts, communities, and stakeholders.”

Then there is the wider issue of gender.

“When we leap to condemn a mother for the logistical realities of her job, what message does that send to the next generation of potential female leaders?,” Mrs Simmonds wrote.

Readers piled into the debate, with many supporting the view that political life costs money.

Others, though, said they will never support the spending habits, while some claimed wider problems remain.

In an online poll, about 90 per cent of readers voted that politicians get too many perks.

See what you had to say below and join the conversation >>>

WHAT YOU SAID

Sorry, not buying it

david

How does attending multiple sporting events with drivers paid to wait all day at taxpayer expense correlate to getting more family time?

The criticism of Wells is well deserved, this is blatant milking of the taxpayer.

ben

No respect for the taxpayers dollars. Cannot be defended.

The Joker

Hang on hang on! $1,300 on one meal? Come off it. Completely unjustifiable.

Jasmine

It is worse than that, she then went out for a second meal in 1 evening!

Lisa

I don't understand what this has to do with gender? Pollies would be criticised regardless of gender for this. The problem is not even the travel, dinners etc- they are part of the job- the problem is the massive luxury factor of these perks

I’m team Anika

Jane

If you’re the Minister for Sport, attending sporting events is literally part of your job. That’s where you network with the people who run those sports.

TERENCE

if the focus is on this minister why not go back and check all ministers of both governments over the past 10 years and see what the results are ! Going by all reports she is acting within the guidelines

David

Also a report yesterday listed her as only the 23rd most expensive politician. How about the others (Including the opposition members) who spent more on travel.

Raelene

Politicians do not directly write the Parliamentary rules. Fact.

In this picture shared on social media on June 22, 2025, Anika Wells poses for a photograph in the Snowy Mountains for a paralympics funding announcement. Picture: Instagram

I’m lost

Nigel

Its not the AMOUNT spent on travel, per se … its who else is travelling to where that fails the pub test.

Mary

the fuss is purely because the losing minority conservative voters think that their governance should control anything financial. They firmly believe that all of the money is theirs. That’s why.

Susan

The major issue is that the politicians are the ones who wrote their own rules. Very few in the private sector get the opportunity to write their own rules on remuneration levels and conditions other than the owner of their company if they can afford it.

Mister Briggs

Buy the whole menu for less than that at the local RSL with a bottle of Pepperjack thrown in, it always amazes me people come from normal backgrounds then when they become famous will only drink evian water and eat best cut steaks

Andrew

How refreshing that when Pauline Hanson and Gina Reinhardt recently visited President Trump private residence in Florida, so as to find better ways of how to Make Australia Great Again, not one cent was charged to Australian taxpayers.

Originally published as What you said about wife of former MP defending Labor’s Anika Wells over ‘gendered’ criticism