Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell defends taxpayer-funded Uluru trip with wife
One Senator who racks up more travel expense claims than most has defended his wife’s presence at meetings at Uluru, paid for by taxpayers.
A senior Albanese government minister has defended his use of publicly-funded travel, particularly a work trip to Uluru which his wife tagged along on.
Following the furore over Sport Minister Anika Wells flying her family to the AFL and NRL grand finals and a ski resort, the use of federal politicians’ use of family travel expenses came sharply under the microscope at the end of last year.
Senator Farrell, the Trade and Tourism Minister, topped the list of family travel expense claims with $48,178 for the 2024-25 financial year.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.That included a trip to Uluru his wife Nimfa accompanied him on.
On Sunday, Senator Farrell reiterated that every bill he passed onto the taxpayer followed the rules.
“I’ve complied strictly with every single rule in this area and to the best of my knowledge, nobody has said otherwise,” he told Sky News Sunday Agenda.
Senator Farrell argued his presence at the Uluru function and meetings had been misconstrued, but failed to explain why he needed a family member to join him.
“My wife did accompany me to that event, as she does to so many … events,” he said.
“I then met with 20 tourism operators in Uluru, in the Red Centre, who had been struggling because of some of the events that have occurred in Alice Springs in the lead up to that, and we worked out a program to support them in rebuilding tourism.
“There’s been misrepresentation about what happened on that occasion.
“I’m the Tourism Minister of Australia. Like it or not, that means I have to travel around the country in order to promote Australian tourism.”
The meetings with 20 tourism operators resulted in an $8.5m package which was announced before the election, he said.
“My job is to go around this country in my tourism capacity promoting Australia, going overseas to promote Australia,” he said.
“Look, I could sit on my couch with a beer watching the TV but choose to go around the country and around the world to promote Australia.”
Last financial year, MPs billed more than $700,000 of family travel expenses for trips to and from Canberra, just under $400,000 on other domestic flights, and $60,000 on chauffeurs and other car expenses.
Behind Senator Farrell, Australia’s Voice WA Senator Fatima Payman claimed the second-most family travel – $41,438 – and former Liberal leader Peter Dutton was third, billing the taxpayer $36,542
Eight of the 20 politicians to claim the most family travel are from WA
The Sport Minister, Ms Wells came under fire late last year when it was realised she used family reunion travel entitlements to fly family members to the AFL and NRL grand finals, the cricket, the Australian Open tennis, and to a ski resort at Thredbo.
The Prime Minister called for a review of the rules, and in January the independent Remuneration Tribunal changed the rules so family members can no longer fly business class on the public dime.
Family reunion travel outside of Canberra will also be capped at one trip per year, and MPs will need to ask the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority before booking flights.
Spouses of senior politicians can still use taxpayer money to attend official portfolio-related events if they are invited, but this has been capped at three return-trip economy airfares a year.
Originally published as Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell defends taxpayer-funded Uluru trip with wife
