Rowland self-refers entitlements, Albanese seeks advice on the rules
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More news: Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has become the second minister to self-refer her use of entitlements for investigation, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed he had sought advice from the expenses watchdog.
Rowland spent more than $20,000 of taxpayer money on flights and travel allowances on a trip to WA, where she was joined by her family members. Her office confirmed she had referred the expenditure to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) on Friday, three days after embattled Communications Minister Anika Wells had done the same.
After spending days defending his MPs, and refusing to be drawn on entitlements, Albanese confirmed he had asked the IPEA for advice on entitlement rules.
Rowland survived calls for her resignation when she was communications minister in 2023, after accepting donations from major gambling companies she was tasked with regulating.
Albanese also refused to sack Rowland despite the conflict of interest.
What they said: “I ask [for advice] all the time, publicly,” Albanese told reporters on Friday.
Sussan Ley offers to support expenses system reform, demands Wells stand aside
The news: Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has offered to work with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reform politicians’ expenses, and demanded Communications Minister Anika Wells resign unless he states she did not breach the ministerial code.
The context: In a letter on Friday, Ley criticised Labor’s handling of the expenses scandal engulfing Wells but offered bipartisan support to alter the system.
The letter adds more pressure on Wells, after revelations she used the family reunion entitlement to fly her husband to a series of sports events, and separately spent taxpayer funds on expensive meals in Paris.
Wells referred herself to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) earlier this week, something Ley described as “appropriate, but not sufficient”. The Coalition has called for Wells to stand aside while the IPEA investigates the matter.
Ley also questioned whether Wells had breached the ministerial code, a separate and more stringent threshold, and demanded Albanese refer that question to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
“The Code mandates ministers must observe standards of behaviour ‘worthy of the Australian people’ … [and] not put public resources ‘to wasteful or extravagant use’,” Ley wrote.
“If you believe the minister has not contravened the code, I invite you to say so publicly.”
Ley said if Albanese was not prepared to make that declaration, Wells should resign.
Albanese repeatedly declined to answer questions about changing the entitlement system on Friday, at one point insisting he was “not the finance minister”. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher could tighten the rules with the stroke of a pen.
Speaking to Sky News soon after her letter was made public, Ley addressed her own expenses scandal, which forced her to resign from Malcolm Turnbull’s ministry in 2016 and triggered the creation of the IPEA.
“I put my hand up, I apologised, and I resigned, and I held myself accountable to the Minister of conduct… Anika Wells has not done one of those three things,” she said.
What they said: “I can sit down with the Prime Minister anytime and go through measures that we would like to propose to implement to restore that public trust in the system that delivers these entitlements,” Ley told Sky News.
The sources: Sussan Ley interview, Sky News, The Australian
