Fatima Payman: Rogue senator’s $21,000 family travel expenses bill the highest of any federal politician

Fatima Payman spent the most on family travel of any federal politician in the three months after she turned independent, racking up nearly $21,000 in costs.

The former Labor senator also billed more than $11,100 in travel costs for her 12-day “listening tour” around the State she had already represented for two years.

Records from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority show the travel around regional WA in late July and early August cost taxpayers $4125 for accommodation, $2548.61 apiece for the senator and a family member’s flights plus $1887.70 for charter transport from Geraldton to Broome.

She flew around the Pilbara and Kimberley regions on the first part of the tour before driving through the southwest and out to Kalgoorlie, speaking with local businesses and community groups and posting prolifically on Instagram.

Senator Payman noted on her final stop that “reinvestment back into the community and small businesses need to be prioritised by promotion DIDO over FIFO”.

This trip contributed to the more than doubling in her family travel expenses, up to $20,888.90 for July-September.

In the previous quarter, Senator Payman only billed for $9790.79 in family travel costs, effectively covering two return trips to Canberra.

Under the family travel rules, taxpayers cover costs equivalent to nine return flights to Canberra each year for a federal politician’s spouse or other nominated family members.

The records show Senator Payman booked three return flights for family members to be in Canberra for the sitting week in June when she crossed the floor to back a Greens motion relating to Palestinian statehood, precipitating her split from Labor.

There are also family flights between Perth and Canberra for the two sitting weeks in August.

Senator Payman’s husband Jacob Stokes resigned from his job as a WA state ministerial staffer after she quit Labor and has been working with her in an unpaid capacity, including to establish her new party.

“After resigning from the Labor Party, I was left with one staffer and despite several requests, the Prime Minister refused to give me the full staffing allocation given to other crossbenchers,” Senator Payman told The West.

“I am grateful for my family and loved ones who were able to be with me and provide the emotional and mental support that I needed during a difficult period.”

Family are also allowed to travel on up to three trips a year elsewhere in the country when the politician is on parliamentary business.

Senator Payman’s expenses records show she initially recorded the travel allowance covering accommodation for each night of her listening tour as “parliamentary duties” but those charges were reversed for half the trip and instead recorded as “electorate duties”.

She told The West she had changed the category because of a “technicality” and had now corrected it to mark the entire trip as “electorate duties”.

“As a Labor senator previously, I had never needed to make such a travel claim so it was important to correct the record,” she said.

West Australian politicians routinely rack up some of the highest travel bills because they have to travel the furthest to get to Canberra for Parliament and elsewhere for work events.

WA Liberal senator Slade Brockman had the second-highest family travel bill for the September quarter at $17,754 closely followed by WA Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy, who was elevated into cabinet as Minister for Indigenous Australians during that period.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton came in fifth on family travel costs with $12,858 and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was 53rd with $3126.