Attorney-General Rowland to repay some travel money

As the expenses affairs continues  to roll through the Albanese government like a wrecking ball, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland will repay some of the $21,685  she charged for a family holiday in Western Australia in 2023.

This follows advice on Friday from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) that a portion of the spending breached the official guidelines.

But the government is resisting any suggestion she should quit her post. Asked on Sunday whether Rowland should resign, Treasurer Jim Chalmers told Sky, "I don't believe so. I think Michelle's done the right thing in asking the IPEA to take another look."

Rowland's office on Sunday could not say how much she will repay.

Coalition finance spokesman James Paterson, condemning "a culture of entitlement" within the government, said Rowland was "not just any minister. She's a minister responsible for probity, for integrity, for transparency, and so a higher burden applies to her.

“The absolute bare minimum that should be required here is a referral to the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to inquire as to whether she has upheld the Ministerial Code of Conduct. And unless the prime minister can satisfy himself that she is compliant with the Ministerial Code of Conduct, then very serious and very obvious standards should then apply.

“The prime minister has been very quick to throw out precedent here. He's repeatedly referred to the fact that Sussan Ley, as health minister, had to resign over her expenses during the Turnbull government. Well, if he's happy with that standard for Sussan Ley, then he should hold his ministers to at least the same standard."

Albanese on Friday said he had asked IPEA for advice about the travel rules for parliamentarians. Cabinet is set to discuss the issue on Monday.  Albanese is expected to announce some tightening, in light of widespread community outrage and continuing  revelations.

It was reported at the weekend Health Minister Mark Butler claimed taxpayer funds to fly his wife from Adelaide to Brisbane and back when he attended a Matildas game in August 2023 with Albanese and Sports Minister Anika Wells. Butler was invited apparently because he was the minister representing sport in the cabinet at the time, before Wells was elevated into cabinet.

Butler's wife also went to the tennis with him in 2024, and his son accompanied him to the cricket in the same year (where Butler was making an announcement of funding for the McGrath Foundation).

Wells' bill of $95,000 for herself, a staffer and a departmental official to fly to the United Nations in New York began the furore around travel entitlements which last week overshadowed the start of the government's under-16s social media ban and continues to flood the news cycle.

Wells has asked IPEA to audit her entitlement claims. Her office has had no response yet.

TheConversation.com

Author: Michelle Grattan – Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

https://theconversation.com/attorney-general-rowland-to-repay-some-travel-money-cost-of-governments-battery-subsidy-scheme-explodes-271947