Politician payday: Morton spends 239 days in Canberra outside sitting weeks on taxpayers’ dime

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s close confidant and Public Service Minister Ben Morton spent exactly half his time away from Perth in his first 2½ years of this term of government and charged taxpayers nearly $144,000 for the privilege.

A WAtoday analysis of parliamentary travel claims from Morton, his lower house WA colleagues and other WA ministers found he far out-claimed travel-prone regional MPs and spent 478 nights out of Perth, including 239 days in Canberra outside of sitting weeks, on the taxpayers’ dime – more than double that of other WA ministers Michaelia Cash and Linda Reynolds.

Tangney MP and Public Service Minister Ben Morton, right, has spent much of the election campaign alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Credit: James Brickwood

Labor pounced on the figures days out from the election and accused the Tangney MP of taking his electorate for granted. But Morton and the Liberals defended his time out of the state, blaming COVID and his higher duties as an adviser to Morrison.

Morton, who was appointed assistant minister to the PM after his re-election in 2019 and was appointed Public Service Minister in October, claimed nearly $70,000 for nights spent in Canberra outside of sitting weeks from May 2019 to December 2021.

In comparison, WA’s most senior Liberals – Reynolds and Cash, who were cabinet ministers from the beginning of this government – collectively spent 184 days in Canberra outside sitting weeks and claimed $54,000.

Morton’s longest stretch in Canberra outside a sitting week was in January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, where he spent 24 nights in the nation’s capital at a cost of $6984 to taxpayers.

Morton is a former state director of the Liberal party and has played a strategist role for Morrison throughout the campaign, which meant he has spent much of the campaign outside the state and not campaigning in Tangney.

The Liberals hold Tangney with a margin of 9.5 per cent, and it is considered a safe seat, but Labor has thrown significant resources behind its candidate Sam Lim.

One senior WA Liberal party member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters freely, said Morton’s absence from WA had been a topic of discussion for more than a year.

“There’s been a lot of bitching and gossiping about it,” he said.

“It has come up several times that he does seem to be spending a long time out of the electorate, and he’s going to get pinged at some point.”

WA Labor secretary Tim Picton said voters on the ground felt like they were being taken for granted and panned the idea that proximity to the PM meant Morton could achieve more for the electorate.

“Tangney deserves a member of parliament that’s in touch with the community, and will always put their interests first,” he said.

“If Ben Morton has the ear of the Prime Minister, why didn’t he stop him from siding with Clive Palmer against WA in the High Court?”

Morton deferred questions to the Liberal Party and a spokesman rubbished Labor’s criticism.

“The ALP are well aware that over the last two years during the pandemic, Minister Morton, given his ministerial responsibilities for the public service and as minister assisting the prime minister and cabinet, has been required to be in Canberra to support the government’s response to the pandemic,” he said.

“Minister Morton is committed to and delivers for his community. Minister Morton has responded by working even harder including for his community.”

University of Notre Dame politics professor Martin Drum said there was merit to the argument that having the PM’s ear meant you could achieve more for the electorate.

“You can achieve a lot by being in the inner circle and being part of those conversations so certainly both he and the WA Liberal team probably benefit a lot from him being a key adviser to Scott Morrison,” he said.

Drum said he expected Morton would retain his seat on Saturday after a substantial swing, but not because of his time spent outside the electorate.

“I do think there’ll be a substantive swing, probably above the state average, and that’s not necessarily because he’s been away,” he said.

“I think that his area, which is reasonably gentrified, probably more high levels of formal education, that kind of stuff, is probably not as happy a hunting ground for Liberals as it used to be.”

The travel figures were extracted from parliamentary expenditure reports lodged for this term of government up until December 2021, which record the travel allowance claims for accommodation, meals and incidental expenses by all MPs in quarterly blocks.

Claims are made on a per-night basis and payment amounts vary based on the home electorate of the MP and city travelled to.

WA MP travel allowance claims attract the highest payments, with taxpayers coughing up about $290 a night for an MP to stay in Canberra both inside and outside sitting weeks.

Cabinet ministers and regional MPs claim the most, particularly in WA where regional electorates are larger than many European countries.

Public Service Minister Ben Morton.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Durack MP and Defence Industries Minister Melissa Price claimed the second-most nights and expenses in total after Morton with 467 nights and $125,600. She claimed more than $60,000 of that for nights in cities outside of Canberra, mostly visits to WA regional towns.

Durack is the largest electorate in Australia, starting in Perth’s northern suburbs and finishing in the Kimberley.

O’Connor is the second-largest Australian electorate and covers much of WA’s desert interior. Its MP, Liberal Rick Wilson, claimed more than $55,000 for nights spent outside of Canberra.

Labor’s member for Burt, Matt Keogh, claimed the most travel expenses out of his five WA colleagues with $60,000 in total while retiring Liberal Swan MP Steve Irons claimed the least with $47,000.

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