Anika Wells has asked for all her travel expenses to be independently audited after a week of scrutiny over her use of taxpayer money.
The under-fire minister issued a one-line statement on Tuesday afternoon saying that she had referred herself to the independent watchdog.
“I remain confident all my travel and expenses is within the Framework but for the avoidance of doubt I have self-referred my expenditure to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority for an audit,” she said.
Scrutiny of her travel claims were sparked by revelations that flights for Ms Wells, a political staffer and a senior bureaucrat to travel to New York in September cost taxpayers close to $100,000.
Since then, further reporting has uncovered instances of the minister using the “family reunion” travel entitlements to have her family join her at Thredbo for a Paralympic event and several grand finals.
More to come
