Why not catch a taxi? Parliament ‘loophole’ in the spotlight
The use of taxpayer funds is under the spotlight again after it was revealed one minister spent hundreds on government cars for short trips in Canberra.
One trip of just two kilometres cost taxpayers $337, with Communications Minister Anika Wells claiming her use of government COMCAR’s instead of a taxi or Uber was because she was running late.
Wells’ latest expenses controversy comes months after she was forced to repay over $8000 in wrongly claimed travel expenses. Alex Ellinghausen
According to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority, Wells spent nearly $3700 on using official government cars between January and March this year, with several of those journeys being in Canberra.
However, many of the trips in the nation’s capital were revealed to be as short as two to three kilometres per trip.
COMCAR is a service offered to politicians, where they are able to call on a driver to pick them up in a government car to take them to their destination in capital cities, with taxis also used in peak travel periods or in regional areas.
The service is able to be used on a 24/7 basis, except for some public holidays.
Despite the short trips costing hundreds of dollars, Wells is not in breach of any parliamentary spending rules.
9news National Affairs Editor Andrew Probyn believes politicians should change their travel habits despite the loophole being open.
“[It] invites the question, why doesn’t Anika Wells – and every other MP for that matter – catch a taxi instead?” he said on Today.
He also said Wells’ spending habits were more under the spotlight after she was forced to pay back $10,000 in travel expenses after an audit last year found that over $8000 of expenses were wrongly claimed.
Wells’ use of the COMCAR service was within parliamentary rules. Alex Ellinghausen
It was revealed she had flown her husband, Finn McCarthy, to several sporting events in Melbourne, claiming costs of $4000 under the Commonwealth’s family reunion provision.
Wells was forced to pay back $8093 of wrongfully claimed expenses after several of the trips claimed for family reasons “did not fully satisfy the requirements of the Parliamentary Business Resources (PBR) regulation”.
In a statement provided to nine.com.au in March, Wells said the “honest mistakes” had been repaid in full.
“The audit found, over four years of travel, involving nearly 250 separate trips, I made four mistakes,” Wells said.
“These were four cases where I chose what I thought was the more sensible, cheaper option, but those choices were not allowed according to the rules, which I accept and respect.
“I accept IPEA’s assessment and I am sorry for making these honest mistakes.”
Anika Wells has been contacted for comment.
Source: https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/why-not-catch-a-taxi-parliament-loophole-in-the-spotlight-20260607-p604k4.html
