Wells refers her expenses to independent watchdog for audit

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Embattled Sport and Communications Minister Anika Wells has belatedly asked parliament’s expenses watchdog to audit her use of taxpayer entitlements, after days of controversy over her use of taxpayer funds.

The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority will now examine Wells’ use of family reunion entitlements to fly her husband, and sometimes their children too, to multiple AFL and NRL grand finals, two Boxing Day test matches, a Formula 1 grand prix, a trip to the Thredbo ski resort, as well as her use of Comcar transport and other expenses.

Communications and Sport Minister Anika Wells last month.

Wells’ entitlements were first put under scrutiny when a Senate estimates hearing revealed last week that Wells and two government officials had spent almost $100,000 on three taxpayer flights to New York. The saga has engulfed the government in subsequent days and overshadowed the introduction of a social media ban for under 16s, which starts on Wednesday.

Wells has maintained throughout the scandal that her use of entitlements has all been within the rules.

In a short statement, Wells said: “I remain confident all my travel and expenses is within the framework, but for the avoidance of doubt I have self-referred my expenditure to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority for an audit”.

Wells and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had both defended the flights and expenses as within the rules on Sunday, but the minister endured almost a week of criticism for the nature of her trips and questions about her judgment before she asked for the audit.

The furore over MPs funding family trips and travel expenses with taxpayer money also embroiled two more government ministers on Tuesday. Expenses data showed that Don Farrell used his entitlements hundreds of times to fly his family around the country since Labor was elected in 2022, and The Australian Financial Review reported Attorney-General Michelle Rowland billed taxpayers more than $20,000 for her family to travel to Western Australia.

In 2020, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke repaid the cost of flights for his family to join him on a trip to Uluru in 2012 because, while within the rules, he said the expenses “did not meet community expectations”.