Published assurance reviews

This Assurance Review of the use of these expenses by Dan Repacholi MP between 1 April and 30 June 2023 was conducted as part of a review of travel-related expenses by new parliamentarians. Mr Repacholi used parliamentary business resources to travel to Melbourne on 2 occasions during this period, and was asked to confirm the dominant purpose of this travel. Considering the response by Mr Repacholi and other available information, IPEA concluded that parliamentary business was the dominant purpose of all travel undertaken by Mr Repacholi during the period in scope, and the use of parliamentary business resources was consistent with the legislative framework.

This  Assurance Review of use of parliamentary business resources for car transport in Canberra between 13 June and 14 September 2023 by a staff member in Mr Rowan Ramsey’s office concluded the staff member was directed to use car transport to travel to and from Parliament House by the employing parliamentarian, but the use of car transport was not consistent with the legislative framework. IPEA raised an invoice for $281.26 to recover these expenses, which has been paid in full.

This extensive Assurance Review examined staff use of parliamentary business resources for car transport in Canberra for travel to and from Parliament House for the 2021‐2022 financial year. After analysing the available data of 1,208 transactions during the period in scope, IPEA contacted  5 parliamentarians (The Hon Linda Burney MP, The Hon Andrew Gee MP, Mr Rowan Ramsey MP, The Hon Bill Shorten MP, Senator Anne Urquhart) for certification of their staff members’ use of car transport during the period. Senator Urquhart provided a completed certification form for those trips which were in accordance with the legislative framework and requested an invoice for 11 transactions which were not. An invoice to recover $219.37 was forwarded to Senator Urquhart’s office  on 7 September 2023. The 4 other parliamentarians contacted certified all travel in scope. Following analysis of the information held by and available to IPEA, including the responses provided by parliamentarians or authorised persons, IPEA is satisfied the remaining staff use of car transport in Canberra was consistent with the legislative framework.

This Assurance Review of travel by Senator Linda White between 1 April and 30 June 2023 was conducted as part of a review of travel and related expenses of new parliamentarians. Senator White was identified as having used parliamentary business resources for travel to Hobart, Vietnam, Perth, Mount Isa, and Townsville within the relevant time period.. Having considered the available information, including responses provided by Senator White, IPEA is satisfied her travel was for the dominant purpose of parliamentary business and was consistent with the legislative framework.

This Assurance Review of travel by Mr Aaron Violi MP. identified that Mr Violi had used  parliamentary business resources for travel to Hobart with his family between 11 and 18 April 2023 and then for his own  travel to Adelaide between 18 and 20 April 2023. After considering the available information, including the detailed response provided by Mr Violi, IPEA is satisfied the dominant purpose of the travel was parliamentary business and was consistent with the legislative framework.

This Assurance Review focussed on parliamentarians’ travel using parliamentary business resources to Melbourne between 30 March and 3 April 2023, the time of the Australian Grand Prix. A Preliminary Assessment found that 6 parliamentarians (Mr Garth Hamilton MP, The Hon Andrew Hastie MP, The Hon Luke Howarth MP, the Hon David Littleproud MP, Mr Bert van Manen MP, and Dr Anne Webster MP) had used parliamentary business resources for travel in scope of this review. Following correspondence with the parliamentarians and having considered the available information, IPEA was satisfied that the travel had been taken for parliamentary purposes and was consistent with the legislative framework.

This Assurance Review identified that the use of a short-term self-drive hire car in Queensland between 13 and 23 December 2022 by a staff member of the Hon Bob Katter MP appeared to contravene the requirements of the legislative framework. The certification from Mr Katter's office did not provide sufficient information to conclude the use of the hire car was in accordance with the requirements. Following a corrected certification from Mr Katter's office, IPEA accepted that the use of the short‐term self‐drive hire car was not inconsistent with the legislative framework. However, IPEA raised an invoice to recover 1 day of the hire car as the Determination provides that the duration of car hire should be no more than 10 days.  

This Assurance Review examined staff use of unscheduled ground transport using parliamentary business resources between 10:00 PM and 5:00 AM for the 2021-2022 financial year. IPEA identified staff in 12 parliamentarians' offices as having used travel expenses within the period and time in scope. Of these, four staff members (from the offices of Senator Hollie Hughes and The Hon Jason Wood MP) had transactions which were not consistent with the legislative framework, as the travel was not directed by the parliamentarian or an authorised person: two of these used a Cabcharge card in error.  Invoices were issued to recover the parliamentary business resources inappropriately used. The remaining transactions were in accordance with the legislative framework.

This Assurance Review examined parliamentarians’ travel to Sydney between 30 August and 4 September 2019 using parliamentary business resources, following media reports of a Liberal Party fundraising event held by Channel Nine at their studio in Willoughby, Sydney, NSW on 2 September 2019.  After analysis of the data, 9 parliamentarians were assessed as requiring further investigation as they had accessed parliamentary business resources in Sydney around the time of the event (Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, The Hon Dan Tehan MP, The Hon Stuart Robert MP, Senator the Hon Jane Hume, The Hon Alan Tudge MP, The Hon Michael McCormack MP, The Hon Ben Morton MP, Mr James Stevens MP, Mr Llew O'Brien MP). Based on a full review of the data, and the responses and evidence provided by parliamentarians within the scope of the review, IPEA is satisfied there was no misuse of parliamentary business resources.

This Assurance review examined the use of business class airfares for a staff member from the office of Senator the Hon Sarah Henderson. The review assessed the staff member's use of parliamentary resources to fly business class to travel from Melbourne to Brisbane and Brisbane to Mackay on 10 October 2022, accompanied by the employing parliamentarian. IPEA concluded that the use of business class airfares was not consistent with the legislative framework and raised an invoice for $819.28, the difference between the business class and economy airfares. This invoice was provided to the staff member on 26 May 2023. The invoice was subsequently paid.