Peter Dutton billed taxpayers for flights to Sydney on the days of three NRL grand finals, a rugby tournament and a Matildas World Cup game, records show.
Integrity campaigners and crossbenchers, including the former rugby international David Pocock, have repeatedly criticised the use of publicly funded travel to attend major sporting events, saying it fails to reflect community expectations.
The rules state that parliamentarians are required to use expenses in good faith, “for the dominant purpose of conducting parliamentary business” and in a way that achieves “value for money”.
An analysis of expense records and pecuniary interest registers shows Dutton has repeatedly used public money for travel coinciding with sporting events.
He was given tickets and hospitality for the NRL grand finals in Sydney on 2 October 2022, 1 October 2023 and 6 October 2024, most recently as a guest in Accor Stadium’s president’s suite, alongside Anthony Albanese.
On each occasion he billed taxpayers for commercial flights arriving in Sydney on game day at a combined cost of $1,601. He flew out of Sydney the day after the grand final in 2022 and 2023, claiming for those flights too.
Last year Dutton had other business in Sydney on the day after the grand final, speaking at an event held by the Jewish community to mark the first anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack. In 2023, he attended an event for the Filipino community in Sydney on the day of the NRL grand final.
Dutton has since paid back money for his 2022 flights to and from Sydney. It is unclear why he did so, but the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (Ipea) told the Guardian that paying back expenses does not necessarily indicate they were wrongly claimed or that the watchdog had investigated. Ipea did investigate 12 other MPs, including from Labor, for their use of taxpayer-funded travel to, from and around Sydney in connection with the 2022 NRL grand final. The watchdog cleared all 12 because they had other parliamentary business in Sydney at the time.
Albanese was also given tickets to all three NRL finals but details of the times and costs of his travel are obscured. That is because, as prime minister, Albanese makes use of RAAF special purpose jets, which are now subjected to restricted transparency. Albanese’s office was approached about whether special purpose jets were used for the trips.
Like many MPs, Dutton was also given tickets to a Matildas World Cup game in Sydney on 7 August 2023. He claimed for flights from Canberra to Sydney on game day and flew back to Canberra the next day at a cost of $750.
The game, which kicked off at 8.30pm, took place in the middle of a sitting week in Canberra.
Hansard shows Dutton spoke in parliament just after 3pm before travelling to Sydney and arriving back for parliament the following day. Dutton was far from the only MP to have been given tickets to the match and to have travelled from Canberra to Sydney for it. Labor MPs also disclosed being given tickets to the game and used taxpayer-funded travel to get to Sydney.
The opposition leader’s pecuniary interests also show he was given tickets to the rugby sevens tournament in Sydney on 27 and 28 January 2023 and the Australian Open on 29 January. He claimed flights from Brisbane to Sydney on 27 January and from Sydney to Melbourne on 29 January, at a total cost of $1,232.
Dutton had other business in the region at the time. On 27 January 2023 he held a media event at Shoal Bay, two hours north of Sydney. Publicly available material could not be found showing parliamentary business in Melbourne on 29 or 30 January. Dutton may have engaged in parliamentary business that is not publicly disclosed.
Dutton’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Pocock, an independent senator who has campaigned on integrity issues from the crossbench, said aligning taxpayer-funded travel for sporting events did not meet community expectations, regardless of whether they were for the dominant purpose of parliamentary business and therefore not considered a breach of the rules.
“These examples of the opposition leader’s travel certainly raise some concerns,” he said.
“If you’re going to talk a big game about cutting government waste, people would also expect you to walk the talk by minimising your own taxpayer-funded expenses.
“It’s not like politicians are crying poor. If you want to go to an event, do what the rest of the country does and put your hand in your own pocket to pay for it.”
