The Turnbull Government is continuing to implement significant reforms to parliamentarians’ work expenses.
Taxpayers will receive even more certainty that politicians are carefully spending their money with the introduction of the Parliamentary Business Resources Bill 2017 later this week.
These changes will:
- Introduce a clear definition of parliamentary business to provide more certainty;
- Establish new obligations around parliamentarians’ expenditure, including value for money provisions;
- Define a ‘dominant purpose test’, where parliamentarians will only be able to claim expenses when the dominant purpose of their journey was to undertake parliamentary business.
This legislation will be supported by the establishment of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). IPEA will have the ability to make authoritative rulings on whether a parliamentarian’s travel satisfies the new rules.
This bill will implement a number of recommendations of the 2016 Independent Parliamentary Entitlements System Review to streamline the legislative framework for parliamentarians’ work expenses.
“The Turnbull Government is committed to the most comprehensive reforms to parliamentarians’ work expenses in a generation,” Special Minister of State, Senator the Hon Scott Ryan, said.
“This bill continues the Turnbull Government’s important work towards ensuring parliamentarians spend money in a way that is ethical, prudent and cost-effective.
“In the first three months of this year, the Turnbull Government has abolished the life gold travel pass, established the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority and is now making significant reforms to streamlining parliamentarians’ work expenses and better defining when parliamentarians can claim expenses.
“Australians rightly expect their politicians to be accountable for every dollar they spend.”