Australia’s senior politicians can claim ‘unlimited’ travel expenses for their spouse, watchdog rules say | Australian politicians’ expenses

Spending rules for federal politicians are so broad that ministers and senior politicians are entitled to “unlimited” travel for their spouses, according to rules governing spending.

Despite days of controversy over communications minister Anika Wells’ spending and growing calls to reform the rules, Anthony Albanese has ruled out any changes to powers.

“The Independent Parliamentary Expenditure Authority (IPEA) was set up by the former government to review matters independently,” he said on Wednesday. “I don’t want to be the arbiter of my colleagues’ decisions [do] Across parliament, among political parties.”

Albanese held a ministerial meeting in Sydney on Wednesday evening as the government defended the use of the powers. ahead of the Federal Labor Business Forum (FLBF) fundraiser.

Labor raises millions of dollars through fundraisers run by FLBF, which organizes private dinners and networking events for thousands of dollars per person. Interstate ministers participating in the fundraiser will be able to claim their flights as an expense by holding a ministerial meeting.

Politicians including Wells, Albanese, Don Farrell and others embroiled in the escalating spending scandal have defended their use of family travel rules to bring their wives and children to events such as the Australian Open and major NRL and AFL matches, saying it was compliant.

IPEA is parliament’s spending oversight body. Subject to the IPEA Act and relevant regulations.

Guardian Australia can publish an explanatory document on the regulations stating that senior office holders’ spousal travel is “unlimited in terms of the total expenses that can be claimed each year”.

Backbenchers are allowed the equivalent of nine business class trips between their home city and Canberra, as well as the economy equivalent of three trips to other parts of Australia.

But senior office holders, including government ministers, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the leader of the opposition and the deputy leader of the opposition, are allowed to bring their spouses almost anywhere, without any cost caps.

Spouses may travel with or even without a minister if they have been invited to an “engagement” “in their capacity as the spouse of a high-ranking official.”

Guardian Australia asked legal and transparency experts, as well as former senior politicians, about these rules.

Clancy Moore, chief executive of Transparency International Australia, said although generous powers were within the rules, public confidence in the way politicians spent depended on both compliance with the rules and perception.

“Taxpayer-funded business class flights for a minister’s wife to attend major sporting events, a helicopter trip to a Liberal party fundraiser or the current deputy prime minister’s heavy use of RAAF flights to Avalon airport highlight the gap between what is allowed and society’s expectations,” he said.

“There is a broader pattern of behavior by some federal MPs – poor oversight of lobbying, cash-for-cash meetings with donors and ministers for secret access to industry lobbying jobs after they leave politics – that undermines people’s confidence in our democracy.”

Albanese said rules on politicians’ spending and allowances were set by IPEA “at arm’s length” from the government.

“I’m telling you it’s not a good thing for politicians to govern and manage themselves,” Albanese told the ABC.

However, parliament sets rules for the IPEA Act, which can be amended.

Communications and Sport Minister Wells said on Tuesday that he had referred the travel expenses to parliament’s expenses watchdog “for the avoidance of doubt” and maintained that it remained within the rules.

It comes after it was revealed Wells had used the family travel allowance available to all politicians to fly family members to the Thredbo ski resort, the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix, cricket matches and AFL grand finals.

Scrutiny followed up after reporting his travel to France for sporting events, to Adelaide for meetings coinciding with a friend’s birthday, and the nearly $100,000 in airfare for ministers and staff to fly to New York.

Albanese again defended Wells’ spending, telling ABC radio: “It shouldn’t be that surprising for the sports minister to go to a sporting event.”

“But Anika Wells did the right thing, she referred all her expenses to the independent authority. They will look at this, that’s appropriate,” he said.

Wells acknowledged that the amount of spending on rights “caused a visceral reaction in people” but maintained that he did not believe he was breaking the rules.

“These rules were set during the previous government period. I followed the rules during my time as a member of parliament,” he said.

Shadow minister Melissa McIntosh, who herself came under fire after it was revealed she charged $429.64 in 2021 to take her family to the Bathurst 1000 car race, said family travel rights should be reworked.

“I think probably [rules around entitlements] can be dropped. I think public expectations of politicians have changed over the years, and we all want to be there for our families, myself included. I have three children. But if we don’t let it go then we really need to restrict it,” he told Channel Nine.

McIntosh said Wells’ exercise of these powers was “merely [a] “Family reunification disrupts this system.”

Independent MP Monique Ryan said it was important to support politicians who had to leave their young families to work, but these rules had to meet public expectations.

“In a cost of living crisis, politicians must be careful to ensure their regulations are sensitive to the need to spend public funds responsibly. Given repeated concerns about these issues, it makes sense for the government to review travel allowance regulations,” he said.