Peter Dutton has repeatedly charged taxpayers for flights coinciding with intimate and exclusive fundraising events behind closed doors, including at a men-only club in Melbourne and a private home on Sydney’s north shore.
These events, organised by party fundraising vehicles rather than politicians, have increased in frequency across the political spectrum as Labor and Liberal executives drum up cash for an expensive federal election campaign.
Politicians are banned from charging taxpayers for travel if the dominant purpose of the trip is to raise funds for their party, rather than parliamentary business.
Dutton’s appearances at Liberal fundraisers, which were advertised several weeks in advance, coincide with in-studio interviews, speeches or press conferences in nearby electorates, which are generally considered as legitimate parliamentary business.
These fundraisers are not unusual, nor are they a breach of any rules. Anthony Albanese regularly attends similar events, including a private fundraising dinner in Sydney on 6 August, and has previously been publicly accused of using taxpayer-funded flights before attending them.
On Monday, he cancelled an appearance at a dinner capped at 10 people in Sydney due to the flood emergency in south-east Queensland and northern NSW. But the prime minister’s travel costs to such events are obscured as he makes use of special purpose jets that are now subject to restricted transparency.
On 21 October last year Dutton charged $422 to fly from Canberra to Sydney, according to publicly available expenses records. The following day, he was the lunch guest of a fundraiser at the financial firm Blue Ocean Equities. Later that night he attended “a small, exclusive dinner” in “a small group setting” at “a private home on the north shore”. Between fundraisers, Dutton delivered a speech at the Sydney Jewish Museum and conducted several media interviews. A day later, he charged taxpayers $430 to fly to Brisbane, expense records show.
On 2 October, Dutton charged taxpayers $512 to fly to Melbourne. A day later, he headlined a lunch fundraiser at the men-only Athenaeum Club. Invites show donations were allocated to the Sydney seat of Cook. After a press conference in the marginal electorate of Chisholm, Dutton flew to Brisbane on 3 October at a cost of $1,063.35.
On 9 April, Dutton charged $495 to fly from Brisbane to Sydney. The next day, he was the guest at “a private dinner” at the Opera House where donors were invited to “discuss and raise issues with him”. Shortly before dinner, Dutton delivered the Tom Hughes oration at the same location. Donations were set aside for Julian Leeser’s campaign in the seat of Berowra. He flew back to Brisbane on 12 April.
On 4 December Dutton was in Sydney. The next day he was billed as attending an “intimate” and “exclusive fundraising boardroom lunch” at the Newcastle Club in Newcastle, which describes itself as “one of the oldest and most established private clubs in Australia”. That day Dutton charged $480 worth of travel allowances, although it is unclear how he travelled. Money from the fundraiser was set aside for campaigning in the Labor-held seat of Paterson. Earlier in the day, the opposition confirmed it would rescind the Port Stephens offshore wind zone.
Later the same day Dutton was back in Sydney to attend Lachlan Murdoch’s Christmas party at the media mogul’s Bellevue Hill mansion. Rupert Murdoch was in attendance.
Dutton’s wife, Kirilly, travelled from Brisbane to attend that function and a separate News Corp event six months earlier to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Australian newspaper. Taxpayers were billed for family travel on both occasions.
MPs can claim the costs of family travel when spouses or relatives are accompanying them during parliamentary business away from home. The dominant purpose of the family travel must be for “facilitating the family life of the parliamentarian”.
Dutton had other parliamentary business in Sydney before both the Murdoch Christmas party and the 60th anniversary party.
A spokesperson said the fundraisers and the Murdoch parties were not the dominant purpose of the trips.
“All Mr Dutton’s travel was within the rules and within the guidelines.”
Dutton also attended other fundraisers while in Canberra for federal parliament.
That includes a 28 February dinner with the former defence minister Christopher Pyne in the cellar room of Canberra’s Courgette, which describes itself as a “seriously luxurious restaurant”.
Dutton has attended a number of Liberal party fundraisers in recent weeks. These include a dinner in Melbourne on Tuesday, a leader’s “private dinner” in Sydney in late February, and a fundraiser at the harbourside home of the hospitality entrepreneur Justin Hemmes, which made the news because Dutton attended as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred approached Queensland.
Party executives were recently offered “VIP seating” for those willing to pay for a seat on Dutton’s table at a fundraising event at Taronga Zoo. Money raised went to the Liberals’ bid to unseat the independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall.
Expenditure data for 2025 is not yet available.
Although the use of taxpayer-funded flights that coincide with fundraising events does not break any rules, it has prompted calls for an overhaul of the expenses system.
Anthony Whealy, a former NSW supreme court judge and current chair of the Centre for Public Integrity, said the rules allowed a grey area for MPs to claim travel in circumstances the public would not always accept as fair.
“I think the public demand that these sorts of systems be shaken up every now and again because clearly they’re not satisfactory,” Whealy said.
“That’s because people slot their behaviour into systems and rules without those systems being examined closely enough.”
