Coalition edges Labor for travel expense claims

http://www.theguardian.com/world/datablog/2013/oct/14/coalition-labor-travel-expenses

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The Coalition claimed more in travel allowances than any other party in 2011 and 2012, but Labor recorded the largest average amount for each MP.

The expenses scandal has drawn in politicians from both main parties, with MPs paying back expenses claimed for attending weddings, ski trips, and while on book tours.

Guardian Australia has been converting all the expenses records into a searchable database, starting with travel allowances. You can help us investigate specific claims by reviewing the data here. Having the data in this format enables us to analyse which individuals and parties made the most claims, and which claimed the largest amounts.

The data sourced from the Department of Finance reveals 16,896 travel allowance claims lodged, covering 2011 and 2012, with a few additional claims before January 2011 (these are listed where a politician has corrected an earlier entry). The travel allowance covers "payments made to Parliamentarians for overnight stays in locations other than their home base or Daily Expense allowance for Canberra based Parliamentarians, for reasons they specify within entitlement". We are progressively adding more lodgements to the database.

Here are the claims broken down by party:

N.B. For the period Peter Slipper, Craig Thomson, Bob Katter, DLP Senator, John Madigan and Family First Senator Steve Fielding are counted as independents.

The Coalition claimed the largest number of entitlements and the largest total amount, marginally ahead of Labor in both cases. But Labor had slightly higher expenditure per MP. Since Labor had a minority government and did not control the Senate, it had fewer MPs overall.<br /> <br />Each Greens MP cost the taxpayer $47,024.64 – but nine of the 10 Greens are senators and must serve an entire state instead of a single constituency. Independents were the cheapest to maintain.

Over this period all 246 MPs claimed travel entitlements, and the median aggregate claim per member was $42,595.

Here are the top 20 travel expense claims:

*Minister or Parliamentary Secretary in 43rd Parliament; # from WA or NT

Warren Snowdon was the MP with the highest amount, at $133,171. Then opposition leader Tony Abbott was the second highest spender, claiming a total of $119,475 (on 216 occasions).

There are legitimate reasons to lodge expense claims, and we would expect some members in particular to have higher travel expenses overall. Some members represent rural areas, with the Coalition in particular having more of a presence in regional electorates. Senators represent entire states. Some members need to fly regularly between Canberra and Western Australia or the Northern Territory. Government ministers have more onerous responsibilities.

But it is clear from the examples that have come to light so far that some claims are tenuous.

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