AARON PATRICK: Even if she broke no rules, voters will judge Anika Wells’ integrity

Before Gladys Berejiklian became premier of New South Wales she often caught a bus to her office in central Sydney. As the transport minister, Ms Berejiklian wanted to know how Sydneysiders experienced public transport.

Being seen on the morning 205 was good politics in a state where a minister in a previous, Labor government, Reba Meagher, left her government driver waiting all night to pick her up from the Ivy nightclub, where she had gone to celebrate with a television journalist who was changing jobs and she was pursuing, romantically.

Ms Meagher blamed the 2008 incident on a communication breakdown, but it came to symbolise what was seen as a government more interested in office perks than community service. Labor lost in a landslide at the next election.

Sports Minister Anika Wells might have thought about Ms Meagher when she left another government driver waiting nearly 10 hours while she enjoyed the 2022 National Rugby League final between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels at Sydney’s Olympic Park, a story first reported by the Nine newspapers.

‘Work’ trips

Ms Wells is a big sports fan, especially when someone else is paying. The government covered almost $60,000 in travel and accommodation for her to attend 63 sporting events since she began as a minister in 2022, according to a calculation by The Nightly.

She did not have to pay for tickets either. They were provided by the sporting bodies or other organisations seeking influence over government policy.

Ms Wells’ husband, a lobbyist for an insurance company, seems to have been a regular partner on these “work” trips, which peaked one night with $1750 on food drinks in Paris ahead of last year’s Olympic Games.

Then there was a less-glamorous, $3600 trip to Adelaide, which happened to coincide with a friend’s birthday party, some $3000 for a family ski trip to Thredbo and $1800 to watch the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix.

All were within rules covering ministerial travel, the government says, raising the obvious question: are the rules badly written or are they being exploited?

Self referral

Mr Wells and the government have denied she broke any rules. But to staunch the critical coverage, Ms Wells today asked the politicians’ expenses agency to check she filed the correct paperwork.

“I remain confident all my travel and expenses is within the Framework but for the avoidance of doubt I have self-referred my expenditure to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority for an audit,” she said.

The referral is probably pointless. The government sets the rules for expenses. The agency is little more than a postbox.

The central concern raised by Ms Wells’ conduct is whether she took advantage, Reba Meagher-like, of the privileges of public office.

Irrespective of whether she broke rules, the public will decide whether they consider it reasonable to pay for a $1000 meal in Paris.

If they do, her position will become untenable.

Staying married

The trips raise a separate but related matter of whether the government should pay for political spouses to travel with ministers.

As Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Monday, politics is not a regular job. The hours are long. The work is public. By the standards of big business, the pay is not great.

To avoid being represented by men and women who only socialise and sleep with other politicians — an inbreeding already far too common — there has to be leeway for ministers to be accompanied to official events by their spouses.

The benefits of time with partners are obvious. Australians need psychologically healthy politicians. Lonely, divorced and frustrated men and women do not make good leaders.

Between the rules and the compliance lies something more important: integrity. A politician who abuses their expenses account is stealing from the people they represent.

After the Panthers smashed the Eels in 2022, Ms Wells could have caught a train from Olympic Park to her hotel. It probably would have been quicker than a Comcar and allowed her to share in the collective experience of joy or dejection after an important sporting event.

And when reporters came calling with questions about other events, Australians might have been more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt when weighing up whether they were work or play.