‘Pub test’: minister under fire over new flight details
Pressure is mounting on cabinet minister Anika Wells after it was revealed she asked taxpayers to fly her husband to cricket and Formula 1.
The expense is the latest in an unfolding saga as Ms. Wells’ bills for various trips run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
His colleagues defended the splash but the opposition is putting pressure on the communications and sports minister by demanding an independent investigation.
Mrs Wells had claimed $1885 from taxpayers for return flights between Brisbane and Melbourne in 2022 for her husband to attend the Boxing Day cricket test against South Africa.
In 2024, she was also reported to have demanded $1275 to fly her husband to Sydney for the prime ministerial reception for the Australian and Pakistan cricket teams and $984 to fly him to Melbourne for a match at the MCG.
Ms Wells billed taxpayers a further $888 to fly her husband from Brisbane to Melbourne to attend the 2024 Formula One Grand Prix.
The flights were all requested under “family reunion” rules, which allow politicians to request three business-class airfares a year for family members to join them on official business trips.
The latest allegations follow a series of revelations about Ms Wells’ travel, including that she charged taxpayers for a lavish dinner in Paris, flew her family to a ski resort in NSW and traveled to Adelaide to attend a friend’s birthday party.
The government also spent nearly $100,000 to send its communications minister to the United Nations in New York City to enforce Australia’s looming social media ban.
The opposition argues that although travel is within the rules, ministers should be held to higher standards.
Under Labour’s ministerial code of conduct, dignitaries are being reminded to be careful when using taxpayers’ money.
“Such resources should not be wasted or wasted and due economy should always be observed,” he warns.
Angus Taylor, a leading Liberal figure, said the spending failed the pub test.
“You wouldn’t pay for your family to go on holiday out of your own spending fund,” he told ABC radio.
Ms Wells’s colleagues came to Ms Wells’ defence, with senior minister Tanya Plibersek arguing that expenses were reported transparently and that her role as sports minister involved a lot of weekend travel.
“This is not a nine-to-five job,” he told Seven’s Sunrise.
“There are so many weekends away from home.”
Fellow minister Amanda Rishworth acknowledged MPs needed to be “very, very careful” about their spending as people struggle to make ends meet, but said the travel was for business purposes.
“Minister Wells answered these questions comprehensively and made it clear that he was complying with the guidelines,” he told Nine’s Today Show.
