Parliament's travel, phone costs double to $2.4m

Parliament's travel and communication expenditure doubled to $2.4 million in 2024, with increased entitlements for Members of Parliament among the reasons given for the sharp rise.

The $1.2 million increase was questioned by Opposition MP Rinesh Sharma during the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence's review of Parliament's 2023–2024 Annual Report.

According to the report's statement of receipts and expenditure, Parliament spent $1.2 million on travel and communication in 2023, compared with $2.4 million in 2024.

Mr Sharma questioned Parliament's secretary-general, Jeanette Emberson, about the increase and sought an explanation of what the expenditure covered.

Ms Emberson said the allocation included travel expenses, mobile phones, phone plans and internet services for MPs and parliamentary secretariat staff.

She attributed part of the increase to higher entitlements for MPs and Parliament's expanding workload, including committee activities.

“The plans have increased for MPs as well as for staff because the work of the Parliament is always evolving,” she said.

Ms Emberson explained that the parliamentary secretariat was required to align its expenditure with entitlements and allowances approved by the House.

She also confirmed that travel expenditure had increased to accommodate upgraded entitlements for MPs.

However, the explanation did not provide a detailed breakdown of how much of the $2.4 million was spent on travel, mobile phone services, internet services or other communication costs.

The expenditure was examined as part of the committee's review of the parliamentary secretariat's operations and finances for the 2023–2024 reporting period.

The committee also examined staffing, research capacity and other operational expenses.