Albanese cracks down on MPs and Senators charging taxpayers for family trips
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More news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will shake-up parliamentarians’ travel spending rules after a ministerial expense scandal earlier this month, after receiving advice from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA).
Albanese has announced he will restrict federal politicians’ partners to economy-class travel and get rid of the current three annual Australia-wide return trips for the entire family, described as a “family reunion entitlement”.
At the moment, most politicians are able to benefit from up to nine return business class trips from their electorate to Canberra for their partner or spouse and economy-class trips for dependent children plus the family reunion entitlement.
Spouses and partners of MPs and senators will also be restricted to economy class, travel will be limited to trips between Canberra and an MP’s electorate or senator’s home state. Some senior ministers and opposition officials will be given additional exceptions.
There will also be exceptions when a spouse or partner has received a formal invite to an event linked to the MP or senators’ parliamentary work.
The changes follow the expenses scandal earlier this month involving Sport Minister Anika Wells, who used the expense rules to fund her husband’s travel to sporting events, and Attorney-General Michelle Rowland who was required to refund a family trip to Perth that fell outside of IPEA guidelines.
What they said: “In relation to travel for the spouse or partner of a senior office holder, we would restrict travel to events where the following elements exist: the spouse or partner has got an invitation as part of the official invitation to the senior officeholder, and that the events are connected with either the senior officeholder’s portfolio,” Albanese said.
Prime Minister lashes 'politicisation' of Bondi attacks
The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pushed back on the politicisation of the Bondi attacks as he accelerates plans for new rules to stamp out hate speech and more tightly regulate guns.
Albanese also ruled out a royal commission following additional pressure from the legal community, saying there was no similar commission after the Port Arthur massacre or the Lindt siege.
The context: Addressing the meeting following the 10th meeting of the National Security Committee, Albanese pushed back at comments from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley suggesting he and his senior ministers had not shown sufficient grief over the terrorist attack.
Ley appeared in the media on Tuesday morning again critiquing the government for failing to agree to a royal commission into the attack and defending her earlier criticisms of Foreign Minister Penny Wong for not shedding "a single tear".
“I certainly do regret the politicisation of this issue,” Albanese said.
“This is a time where the nation needs to come together in unity and with a sense of purpose, this is not a time for people to look for political … differentiation for the age of it,” he said.
What they said: “I’ll continue to argue for unity. I’ll continue to conduct myself in a way that’s consistent with that call for national unity with being focused on making a difference, with providing support for the agencies who are conducting their investigations. I would hope that other people do that too,” Albanese said.
When asked about the potential for a royal commission, which The Sydney Morning Herald reported has been supported by former judges and members of the Australian Bar, he again ruled it out.
“I just note that there was no real commission called by the Howard government after Port Arthur. There was no royal commission called by the Abbott government after the Lindt siege. We provided on both those occasions as the opposition — and I was part of that opposition — we provided support for national unity at that time”.
He said the federal government-initiated Richardson review will be completed by April.
The source: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese press conference
