Wells spent nearly $9000 of taxpayer money to bring husband to three AFL grand finals

Sports Minister Anika Wells spent close to $9000 of taxpayers’ money on family reunion flights and travel entitlements so her husband could attend three AFL grand finals with her.

Wells and her husband, Finn McCarthy, attended the three grand finals as guests of the AFL, according to declarations on the minister’s register of interests and Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority data.

While it is expected that Wells, as sports minister, attend high-profile sports events, this is one of several reports of her generous use of entitlements to have appeared since last Wednesday, when questions on notice to Senate estimates revealed she, a staffer and a senior public servant spent almost $100,000 on return flights to New York last September.

In 2022, McCarthy’s flights from Brisbane to Melbourne and back to see Geelong defeat the Sydney Swans cost taxpayers $2913.68.

In 2023, when Collingwood defeated the Brisbane Lions, taxpayers spent $3537.15 so Wells, McCarthy and the couple’s three small children could fly from Brisbane to Melbourne return. The family stayed in Melbourne from September 27 until October 1, and Wells also charged four nights’ travel allowance of $469 a night, or $1876 in total, for official duties in the Victorian capital.

And in 2024, when the Lions defeated the Swans, taxpayers spent another $2126.70 for McCarthy to fly to Melbourne and attend the grand final with Wells.

Many politicians regularly attend the AFL grand final. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also attended all three years.

The total cost of flying McCarthy and the couple’s children to Melbourne was $8577.53. With Wells’ use of travel allowance and flights, the total cost to taxpayers is more than $16,000.

The cost of a seat in a corporate box on grand final day starts at $4500, which suggests the potential cost of Wells’ six free grand final tickets over three years could be as much as $27,000.

All of these claims are within the rules that govern family reunion flights and travel entitlements, but these latest revelations will prompt further questions about whether Wells’ use of the entitlements meet community expectations.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, when asked about Wells’ expenses on Monday, said there were good reasons why travel entitlements were logged and disclosed by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. He said Wells’ spending fell within the guidelines.

“I understand that there is a view about that. I understand that people are concerned about that. People are interested in that. That’s why the minister in recent days, the prime minister yesterday, has answered a number of these questions at length,” he said.

“But the reports that have been made public on each occasion have been within the rules, and the rules are policed by an independent authority at arm’s length from politicians.”

It is not clear if Wells and her husband attended the 2025 grand final, as expenses for this period have not yet been reported. Wells’ office has been contacted for comment.

Earlier on Monday, this masthead revealed that in 2022 and 2024, Wells flew McCarthy from Brisbane to Melbourne under family reunion entitlements to attend the December 26 Test match, while enjoying the corporate hospitality of the sport’s governing body.

The minister, who on Sunday was defending a separate use of taxpayer-funded entitlements to fly her husband and two of their three children to join her at the Thredbo ski resort this year, also flew McCarthy to Sydney for a cricket event hosted by Albanese.

Wells and Albanese both defended her use of nearly $3000 in taxpayer-funded money after this masthead revealed her family had flown in to Thredbo while she undertook official business with the Australian Paralympic ski team.

Under the family reunion rules, federal MPs are allowed up to three return business class flights per year for family members flying between the MP’s home base and a city other than Canberra. This is how Wells recorded the flights to the cricket, to Thredbo and to the grand finals.

Wells told Sky News on Sunday in response to the Thredbo story that her claims were within the rules, but she said she could “absolutely appreciate that people have a gut reaction to these figures”.

“I don’t resile from that, and that’s why I agreed that entitlements should be scrutinised. I’m happy for mine to be scrutinised,” she said, “but at the end of the day, I don’t write these rules.”

Albanese told the ABC’s Insiders program it was “completely within the rules”. “There are family reunion entitlements available. All of the travel was within guidelines,” he said.

Chalmers declined to comment further on Monday, when asked whether the situation was fair when Australians were making difficult decisions about their own household expenses.

Labor minister Tanya Plibersek and backbencher Jerome Laxale gave stronger defences of Wells.

“There are so many weekends away from home, and if you’re sports minister, a lot of those are very deliberately weekend events that you’re required to attend because that’s when people watch sport,” Plibersek said on Sky News.

“That’s when people play sport. She was in Thredbo to highlight the extra investment we’re making in the Paralympics.”

Laxale said Australians understood that the sports minister would attend events. “I think it’s a pretty dangerous thing to do, to start attacking politicians for trying to spend time with their family. Sometimes the only time you can spend with them is at work events,” he said.

“That’s difficult, but that’s why this process exists, so that ministers and MPs can spend time with their family. I think it’s important that that system remains. Obviously there’s scrutiny on it, and that’s very fair too.”

More than $4000 for three cricket trips

During the 2022-23 Test cricket series against South Africa, Wells charged taxpayers for family reunion flights on December 26, so McCarthy could fly between Brisbane and Melbourne in one day.

The two flights cost $1885.29. Wells also received three free corporate tickets from Cricket Australia.

In the 2023-24 season against Pakistan, Wells received only one free ticket to attend the Boxing Day Test. She did not charge taxpayers for her husband to fly to Melbourne that year.

However, taxpayers were hit just a few days later, when Wells spent another $1274.72 for two more family reunion flights between Brisbane and Sydney, on January 1, so McCarthy could join her at Albanese’s reception for the Australian and Pakistani teams at Kirribilli House.

During the 2024-25 season, Wells charged taxpayers for reunion flights that cost $983.82 so that McCarthy could fly return from Brisbane to Melbourne to join her at the MCG on December 26. The couple were guests of Cricket Australia.

The total cost to taxpayers for all flights was $4183.83 over three years, according to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority website, and on all three occasions, the sports minister and her husband had been together for just one day.

The MCG charges up to $995 per person for a seat in a corporate box, which means the potential value of the six free tickets from Cricket Australia could be nearly $6000.

Sports ministers and their opposition counterparts frequently attend high-profile events as guests of sporting organisations, and their attendance at these events is in keeping with the “dominant purpose” test, which determines whether an MP’s travel is appropriate.

Wells said the hospitality she received from Cricket Australia was in line with the rules of parliament’s register of members’ interests.

A government spokesman said: “The travel was in accordance with guidelines and in capacity as minister for sport.”

The spokesman did not answer questions about why Wells needed to have three one-day reunions with her husband, whether the minister would repay any of the expenses claimed, or whether the trips met community expectations.

Wells under pressure as social media ban looms

Wells has been under pressure since last week following revelations of the full cost of Wells’ ministerial trip to the United Nations General Assembly in September to showcase the social media ban for children.

It then emerged she had claimed $3600 in travel entitlements for trips to Adelaide, where she attended a friend’s birthday party as well as conducting official business; three trips to France in one year as sports minister at a combined cost $116,000, and the $2845.50 Thredbo family reunion.

The minister’s use of family reunion flights is similar to an Uluru trip that Tony Burke took in 2012, while environment minister, when he charged taxpayers close to $9000 so his wife and children could join him.

Burke’s claim was also within the rules, but when details of the trip emerged in 2015, he said the trip was “beyond community expectations” and in 2020 paid the costs back.

Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson said Wells’ travel and entitlement usage “failed the kitchen table test”.

“She’s a minister who is not just out of touch with Australians, but she’s out of touch with reality,” Paterson said.

In 2017, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley resigned from her position as health minister in the Turnbull government when it was revealed she had bought an apartment on the Gold Coast while on official trips.

Read more on Wells’ expenses

• Rob Harris analysis: The optics on Wells’ $94,000 flights to New York are terrible
• Thredbo ski trip: Nearly $3000 of taxpayer money to bring husband and two children to resort
• Birthday party: Wells attended friend’s soiree during $3600 taxpayer trip

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