Pressure mounts on Anthony Albanese to support IPEA guidelines review, amid fallout of widening expense saga
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has hit out at Anthony Albanese amid the ongoing fallout from the parliamentary travel expenses saga.
Canberra MPs of all political persuasions were grilled on their exercise of employment rights last week after communications and sports minister Anika Wells was revealed to have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on family reunification expenses to take her husband and children to an F1 Grand Prix, three AFL grand finals and cricket Test matches.
Ms Wells argued her spending was in line with Independent Parliamentary Expenditures Authority (IPEA) rules and said her spending had been referred to independent review.
But the issue raised questions about whether the rules should be changed to better suit community expectations.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly evaded responsibility for this saga and refused to commit to changing IPEA rules.
This was despite the government twice delaying a formal inquiry into the powers, first until 2026 and then again until 2027, according to the AFR report.
On Thursday, Mr Albanese clashed with journalists at a tense news conference after repeatedly arguing over whether he would tighten the rules.
“I am not the finance minister. I did not change the rules,” he said.
“[IPEA] “If it were implemented we would certainly listen to the advice that is there, but I think it is important that I do not influence this from the top, just like the court that determines our salaries.”
Senator Bragg criticized Mr Albanese’s refusal to support a review of the rules, saying MPs’ exercise of their travel rights had become “a huge integrity issue”.
Asked whether he would personally welcome a review, Mr. Bragg said: “Of course.”
So, as I said, he is a very strong Prime Minister. He has great power. “And I think people are starting to see it for what it is,” he said.
“He’s very weak and is covering up this huge integrity problem. He can fix that.”
Independent MP Allegra Harcama said it would be “reasonable” to review the rules to ensure they were in line with community expectations.
“Politics is really hard on families. You know, I’m lucky to live in Sydney. It’s closer than most but it’s really hard on all families,” he said.
“So I think there’s room for things like family reunions, but people want to make sure you’re getting value for money and not taking the piss.”
Ms. Harcama said she believed the Albanian government should also “put forward one of the reviews it rejected.”
But Health Minister Mark Butler later defended the government’s reluctance to influence IPEA by affirming the authority’s “independence”.
“I think it was a good thing that this institution was set up because it meant we weren’t making our own rules and not enforcing our own rules,” he told Channel 7.
“Having the prospect of this level of independence will give the public some reassurance that this reflects the public interest.” Mr Butler said a reasonable balance between “reasonable” use of the rules and powers that reflected the “unusual nature” of the business was important.
“As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we welcome these recommendations and if they need to be enacted through legislation, I’m sure we will do so,” he said.
