No Canberra-based MPs will claim expenses for attending parliament on sitting days after Assistant Minister for Science, Innovation and Jobs Zed Seselja announced he would no longer claim the $90 a day payment.
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In the latest disclosure released by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority, almost $1000 worth of expenses had been claimed by Senator Seselja to attend parliamentary sitting days between August and December last year.
The $90 daily expense claim is available to all Canberra-based MPs, and is claimable for "meals and incidental expenses" for any MP whose electorate is in the ACT, or has an electorate bordering the ACT and whose home base is in Canberra.
The rate was increased from $87 a day to $90 a day in August last year, with Seselja claiming $960 for 20 sitting days and one day of Senate estimates.
"The daily allowance is available for ACT and Queanbeyan based politicians and have been claimed by both sides over the years including by Senator Kate Lundy, Mike Kelly MP, Andrew Leigh MP and Gai Brodtmann MP," a spokesperson for the senator said.
"The senator will no longer be claiming the allowance."
The expenses are not claimed by Labor senator Katy Gallagher or Labor MPs Gai Brodtmann and Andrew Leigh, although Mr Leigh has claimed them in the past.
Mr Seselja's claims for the daily allowance total more than $12,000 since he was first elected in 2013.
Member for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly, whose electorate covers the New South Wales area surrounding the ACT, is also eligible for claiming the Canberra daily allowance. Dr Kelly, who served as the MP for Eden-Monaro between 2007 and 2013, claimed the daily allowance during that time, but a spokesperson said he has not claimed the allowance since being re-elected in 2016. A spokesperson for Dr Kelly said he did not feel it was appropriate to claim the allowance any longer.
Former Liberal MP Peter Hendy, who served in Eden-Monaro between 2013 and 2016 also claimed the allowance. Former Labor senator Kate Lundy also claimed the allowance.
MPs and senators from outside the capital are able to claim flights and accommodation while staying in the capital in order to attend parliament.
The entitlements system was overhauled last year after a string of expenses scandals, with parliamentarians now told they must now adhere to a principles-based framework when deciding whether travel can be claimed as part of their work.
