10 Apr 2022
Nick is a champ at office spend │ The Advertiser
By ANDREW HOUGH
A retiring federal MP and a popular independent politician have racked up some of the country’s biggest taxpayer-funded office costs in three months, official new figures show.
Nick Champion, 50, who quit federal parliament after 15 years as the Labor MP for Spence, claimed $107,537.47 for office and administrative expenses in the final quarter of last year.
Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority figures also show the local MP for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie, 49, billed $104,713.77 for similar costs between October and December.
They spent $99,816 and $89,069.14 respectively on printing and communication.
The Commonwealth data, which is released every three months and published late on Friday, shows the claims were among the highest in the country but both MPs said it was within budgeted entitlements. Mr Champion advised the total budget was $272,740.42.
The next highest office claims were from Liberal MP for Sturt, James Stevens, 39, with $69,650.48, followed by Labor’s Adelaide MP Steve Georganas, 62, with $55,412.39 and his
party colleague for Makin Tony Zappia, 69, with $53,552.29.
In comparison, the lowest office claimers were Liberal Senator Andrew McLachlan with $1072.68, followed by colleagues Families and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston, 58, at $5185.60 and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham, 47, with $6674.78.
Mr Champion, who was elected to state parliament at the recent election as the Labor MP for Taylor, defended his costs due to extensive post to northern suburb constituents.
The newly minted Cabinet Trade and Investment Minister also conducted a “closing tour of shopping centres” that included Elizabeth, Parabanks, Munno Para and Craigmore.
Mr Champion, who has lived in North Adelaide since 2017, has come under fire for living more than 30km from his new constituents from some of Adelaide’s poorest suburbs, including Davoren Park, Smithfield and Munno Para West.
“The office administrative budget for the Spence electorate in the October to December quarter reflects the timing of direct mail to inform residents of shopping centre listening posts and street corner meetings,” he said.
“Spending in this quarter is often higher in Spence in (this quarter) than in other quarters because we send the annual calendar to residents in December.
“Despite the higher spend in this quarter, the final spend will be well below the total yearly budget.”
Ms Sharkie, the independent MP covering the Adelaide Hills since 2016, said Covid-19 had inflated her costs.
“As the federal member for South Australia’s oldest electorate, my office has been inundated with requests for support as the Covid-19 situation rapidly evolved,” she said.
“To help as many constituents as efficiently as possible, I believe it is a prudent use of taxpayer money to use mail-outs, local newspapers and community radio stations to quickly disseminate Mayo-specific information about Covid-19 support and other community issues.
“I also used part of my staffing budget to bring on a dedicated Covid-19 officer to help respond to the number of inquiries we have been receiving.”