Pressure mounts on Anthony Albanese to support IPEA guidelines review, amid fallout of widening expense saga

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has taken a brutal swipe at Anthony Albanese, amid the ongoing fallout of the parliamentary travel expenses saga. Canberra parliamentarians of every political persuasion have been grilled over their use of work entitlements, following last week’s revelations communications and sports minister Anika Wells had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in family reunion expenses to take her husband and children to an F1 Grand Prix, three AFL grand finals, and cricket Test matches. Ms Wells has defended her spending as being within the rules of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA), and self-referred her expenditure for independent review. However, the issue has raised questions as to whether the guidelines should be changed to better fit community expectations. The Prime Minister has repeatedly ducked responsibility for the saga and refused to commit to changing the IPEA rules. This is despite the government twice delaying a formal probe into the entitlements, first until 2026, then to 2027, according to an AFR report. On Thursday, Mr Albanese clashed with journalists in a tense press conference after being repeatedly grilled on whether he would tighten the rules. “I’m not the finance minister. I haven’t changed the rules,” he said. “[IPEA] were put in place, we certainly would take advice which is there, but I think it’s important, just like the tribunal setting our wages, that I don’t influence that from the top.” Senator Bragg lashed Mr Albanese’s refusal to support a review of the rules, saying MPs use of travel entitlements had become a “massive integrity issue”. Asked whether he would personally welcome a review, Mr Bragg said: “Of course." I mean, as I say, he’s a very powerful Prime Minister. He’s got massive power. And I think people are starting to see him for who he is,” he said. “He’s very weak and he’s covering up this massive integrity issue. He could fix this.” Independent MP Allegra Spender said it would be “reasonable” to review the rules, to ensure they keep in line with community expectations. “Politics is really hard on families. You know, I’m lucky I live in Sydney, it’s closer than most, but it is really hard on all families,” she said. “So I think there’s a space for things like family reunion, but people want to make sure that you’re getting value for money and that you’re not taking the piss.” Ms Spender believed the Albanese government should also “bring forward one of the reviews that they’ve pushed back”, she said. However, Health Minister Mark Butler later defended the government’s reluctance to influence IPEA by endorsing the authority’s “independence”. “I think the establishment of that body was a good thing because it meant that weren’t setting our own rules and enforcing our own rules,” he told Channel 7. “Having that level of independence hope would give the public some assurance that this that’s reflecting the public interest.” A reasonable balance between the “sensible” use of the rules and entitlements that reflected the “unusual nature” of the job, were important, Mr Butler said. If IPEA chose to make recommendations following the outcome of the self-referred investigation of into Ms Wells’ expenses, he indicated the government would be open to changing the rules. ”As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we would welcome those recommendations and if they have to be enacted through legislation, I’m sure that’s what we would do,” he said.