Anthony Albanese orders review of politicians’ perks amid Anika Wells travel scandal

Anthony Albanese has requested advice on politicians’ travel expenses from an independent watchdog after several taxpayer-funded trips by Anika Wells sparked outrage.

The Communications Minister has been under intense scrutiny since it was revealed she spent $100,000 on flights to New York to attend an event on Australia’s social media ban. It was then revealed that Ms Wells, also the Minister for Sport, had claimed lavish meals, sporting events, a family ski trip and chauffeur services. It then spiralled to engulf Liberal and Greens MPs and Senators.

After Opposition Leader Sussan Ley urged the Prime Minister to work with her on bipartisan reform, Mr Albanese told a press conference that he had already requested that the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority review the system.

“I’ve asked the head of IPEA for advice,” he said.

When questioned on when he had asked for the advice, Mr Albanese claimed he’d “done it publicly at multiple press conferences”.

Official transcripts of Mr Albanese’s press conferences show vague references when mentioning Ms Wells’ self-referral for an audit rather than explicitly stating he’d requested a whole-of-system review.

An transcript for that press conference was also inaccurate, with a question directed to Ms Wells about taxpayer-funded travel around her 40th birthday celebrations omitted from the text.

The PM also revealed that a second MP had referred themselves to the watchdog for an audit, which was later confirmed as Attorney-General Michelle Rowland.

The Labor frontbencher had requested a review of her 2023 use of the controversial family reunion entitlement to bill taxpayers $21,685 for a week-long family trip to Perth during the NSW school holidays.

Mr Albanese dodged questions whether he would tighten the rules — saying “I’m not the finance minister”.

“I think it’s important, just like the tribunal setting our wages, that I don’t influence that from the top,” he said.

Earlier, Ms Ley told Sky News that Mr Albanese’s dismissing of it added fuel to the fire.

She claimed the scandal had “brought the Albanese Government into disrepute and undermined public trust in the Parliament” and called for the Prime Minister’s department to investigate Ms Wells.

She claimed her position was now “untenable” and accused Mr Albanese of not enforcing the ministerial code of conduct.

“That obfuscation just doesn’t cut it with the Australian people, this is about the Prime Minister, because it is about his ministerial code of conduct.”

Ms Ley knows about the heat that misuse of travel entitlements can cause firsthand, after she resigned from the frontbench in 2017 after charging taxpayers for flights to the Gold Coast to buy an investment property.

Ms Ley on Friday said she had accepted at the time that she needed to stand down but flagged that Ms Wells hasn’t had the same response.

“I made a mistake. I put my hand up. I apologised to the Australian people, and I held myself accountable to the ministerial code of conduct. Anika Wells has not,” Ms Ley said.

“This Prime Minister has not addressed his ministerial code of conduct that she has clearly breached, nor has he said she should stand aside.

“What I called for yesterday and I repeat today, is that the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet should conduct an investigation into whether this minister has breached the ministerial code of conduct.

“He’s giving a green light to all of his ministers to continue to live it up just exactly how Anika Wells is doing.”

Ms Ley’s call comes after senior Labor Minister Mark Butler used morning media interviews to hint that the Albanese Government could come to the table to change the rules but won’t take an active lead on it.

“The independent parliamentary authority is now considering a reference that Anika Wells made to them about her claims, and I think that’s a good thing,” he told ABC.

“But also, I think this is an opportunity for that independent authority to consider if they have some advice and recommendations about ways in which we could change the system. I’d welcome that.”

He told Sunrise that if the advice and recommendations had to be “enacted through legislation, I’m sure that’s what we would do”.

The last major change was when a $5200 helicopter flight taken by then-speaker Bronwyn Bishop to a Liberal party function angered Australians.