MPs warned to declare free trips and travel after seven politicians fail to meet deadlines
Special Minister of State Don Farrell warns MPs to declare free trips and hospitality after seven politicians from all sides of politics failed to declare within the correct time frame.
Australian MPs have been reminded of their obligations to promptly declare when they take free trips and other hospitality, after seven were revealed to have failed to declare sponsored travel and/or hospitality within the proscribed time frame.
Trips to Washington, Honolulu and Taipei have since been added to members and senators’ registers of interests, following questions by integrity campaigner Sean Johnson, who tracks social media to see which MPs are travelling, and at whose expense.
Mr Johnson said MPs were required to declare sponsored travel and hospitality within 28 days, or risk being found in serious contempt of parliament and dealt with accordingly.
However, many failed to declare their trips for months, despite openly discussing their travel on social media and in parliamentary speeches.
Special Minister of State Don Farrell issued a reminder for MPs to obey the rules.
“It is the responsibility of all Members and Senators to update their register of interest, in line with the relevant processes for the House and the Senate,’’ he said.
Independent Helen Haines and Labor MP Luke Gosling failed to promptly declare a week-long trip to Washington DC and New York as guests of the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program in January.
The pair were among a group of 10 MPs who attended the trip, which included flights, accommodation and incidentals.
The trip should have been declared by February 18. Both MPs updated their register in late March, with Ms Haines’ office blaming an oversight for the delay, and Mr Gosling’s office giving no reason to Mr Johnson for missing the deadline.
Liberal MP Terry Young and Labor’s Libby Coker failed to promptly declare a trip to Taiwan in early December. The pair were among a group of six MPs who spent five days in Taiwan courtesy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia.
The trip was widely reported in mainstream and social media, and the four other MPs declared the free flights, accommodation and meals they received.
Ms Coker and Mr Young updated their registers after Mr Johnson’s Open Politics project approached their offices.
Open Politics had recently revealed Liberal senator David Van failed to meet the deadline to declare a trip to Egypt to attend the COP27 climate conference, paid for by Conservatives for Conservation. Labor Senator Deb O’Neill and Labor MP Peter Khalil both missed the deadline for declaring a trip they and other colleagues took to Washington DC in September to attend a forum, hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Both MPs blamed administrative oversights in their office, and delays in reimbursement from IPAC, for missing the deadlines.
Mr Khalil undertook an audit of his travel after Mr Johnston’s approach and discovered flights for a second trip he made, to the Australian American Leadership Dialogue talks in Hawaii, in October, had not been declared. He has since declared the trip on his register, showing return flights to Honolulu were provided by Hawaiian Airlines.
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