Wells repays $10,000 of travel expenses after husband’s AFL Grand Final trip
Updated ,first published
Communications Minister Anika Wells has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 after parliament’s travel watchdog found her husband’s four taxpayer trips, including a trip to the 2025 AFL grand final, breached travel rules.
Wells was ordered to pay $10,116 to the public purse, including $8,093 in improper travel expenses and $2,023 in fines, according to audit documents released on Friday by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority.
The minister referred himself to the expenses department following the ongoing scandal over revelations he spent $190,000 on a trip to New York to lift the government’s social media ban. Wells, who is also the federal sports minister, came under further pressure when it emerged her husband had traveled to three AFL grand finals at a cost to taxpayers of $9000.
“These were four occasions where I chose what I thought was the more logical and cheaper option, but those choices were not allowed under the rules, which I accept and respect,” Wells said in a statement on Friday.
“I accept [Independent Parliamentary Expensees Authority] I’m sorry for making these honest mistakes in the review. “I paid the money with a penalty.”
On February 16, 2022, Wells’ husband, Finn McCarthy, traveled between Brisbane and Canberra to pick up his children after the minister contracted COVID. The expense was charged as a family reunion trip, but since McCarthy could not physically meet Wells, she was ordered to pay $1209 for her husband’s trip.
On May 10 last year, Wells’ family traveled to Canberra to visit him; but he was not conducting parliamentary business at the time and was ordered to refund taxpayers $5513 for the trip.
Wells traveled to Canberra on 9 May to attend a Labor caucus meeting, while McCarthy and her children flew from Brisbane to Canberra the next day, on 13 May, to attend the swearing-in ceremony at Government House. He stayed with family friends, so he did not request accommodation assistance.
On 27 September 2025, McCarthy traveled to meet Wells in Melbourne for the AFL grand final. This trip was deemed appropriate. But McCarthy’s return flight to Brisbane was deemed to have breached the rules because Wells took an earlier return flight to Brisbane, meaning his parliamentary business in Melbourne was over. Wells had to pay $726.29 for McCarthy’s return flight.
The other two AFL grand finals in which McCarthy attended were not deemed to have breached spending rules.
Wells rented a car on 3 October 2025, which he used for a mix of parliamentary and personal business. Reimbursed part of the cost, totaling $644.25.
The trip to New York was deemed appropriate by the expenses authority as the minister had “very limited flight options available to him through his contracted travel services provider”. The authority said Wells had “taken into account its obligation to provide value for money”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday rejected suggestions that Wells should resign and said social media policy was worth improving in New York.
“He paid back the money. We have the IPEA. We have an independent parliamentary expenses authority that is responsible for that. He referred himself to that, which was appropriate, and it was appropriate for him to repay the money that was made, and he paid back the money in accordance with the rules,” Albanese said.
Read more about Wells’ spending
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Nick Newling is the federal politics correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
James Massola is the chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and Southeast Asia correspondent. He won the Quill and Kennedy awards and was a Walkley finalist. Connect securely to Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect with: X or email.
