Anika Wells' expenses to be reviewed as Labor seeks to regain agenda
The Albanese Government has yielded to public pressure over Sport Minister Anika Wells travel spending to prevent the scandal derailing its broader political agenda.
Communications Minister Anika Wells has caved in to public pressure over her taxpayer-funded travel expenses by referring them to an independent body for review, amid internal Labor fears the scandal was overshadowing this week's commencement of the world-first ban on social media accounts for children.
The Coalition has called on the embattled minister to stand aside while the review is carried out, describing her self-referral as “too little, too late”.
Wells has been under heavy pressure in recent days for using taxpayer funds to pay travel expenses of her husband to join her at sporting events such as AFL and NRL grand finals, and also for her husband and children to join her at Thredbo for a weekend while she attended meetings concerning the Paralympics.
As Labor MPs told Capital Brief the “media pile-on” over the issue was beginning to overshadow the government's broader political agenda, Wells released a statement this afternoon insisting all of her travel claims were in line with the rules.
