Premier Jacinta Allan has claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded allowances for a second home she owns in Melbourne, with the total sum now likely eclipsing the original purchase price of her property.
Allan is one of 18 regional Victorian MPs – including five Labor MPs, three Liberals, eight Nationals and two crossbenchers – who collect a generous parliamentary allowance to fund the upkeep of their city residences instead of billing taxpayers to stay in hotels when parliament is sitting.
The Age can reveal Allan, the member for Bendigo East, bought the CBD apartment for $319,000 in 2005. Parliamentary records show that in the six years until the end of last year, she claimed allowances totalling $291,146.90.
MPs have been required to disclose their allowance claims only since 2019, after the state government under Daniel Andrews overhauled the rules after an expenses scandal involving claims by two Labor MPs. Allan did not respond on Wednesday when asked how much she had claimed overall, but as the premier, she is currently entitled to the maximum amount of $56,000 a year.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes has claimed $132,000 this parliamentary sitting term towards an apartment she owns in Collingwood. Retiring MP and former health minister Mary-Anne Thomas has claimed a similar amount for her secondary residences in Carlton North and Northcote.
Nationals leader Danny O’Brien – the Gippsland South MP who owns an apartment in Melbourne’s CBD – has claimed $103,000 since this parliamentary term began at the end of 2022.
Upper house MP Wendy Lovell, who represents the Northern Victoria region, has claimed the most among Liberal MPs during this parliamentary term at about $132,000.
Under parliamentary rules, MPs who live more than 80 kilometres from Parliament House are entitled to the allowance to cover the costs of staying in Melbourne for official business, which goes towards the cost of maintaining a house they own or rent. Regional MPs who do not own or rent a property can instead claim a nightly allowance for a hotel.
However, the data shows that for long-serving members like Allan, the cumulative cost to taxpayers of an allowance towards a property they own can outstrip the initial investment.
The payments to MPs come on top of their base salary – which is $512,000 for the premier – and are paid regardless of the actual costs members incur to maintain their second residences.
Property records show Allan purchased an apartment in the CBD in 2005 for $319,000. It remains her only listed property outside the family home on the outskirts of Bendigo.
The latest round of disclosures covered allowances claimed until the end of last year, meaning if Allan claims her entitlements for the remaining three financial quarters before the November election, her disclosed allowances would exceed the purchase price of the property. Property documents show there is an active mortgage on the unit.
Property records also show Allan’s husband in 2024 bought a neighbouring unit in the same CBD complex, for which she has disclosed that the couple receive rental income. There is no suggestion Allan or her husband receive public funds for this property. This unit does not have an active mortgage, the records show.
Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell, who represents the Northern Victoria upper house region, has previously claimed a sitting allowance towards a CBD apartment she owned. However, she sold it late last year and now claims the allowance for a rental property she shares with St Kilda-based federal Labor MP Josh Burns.
Purcell said the couple – who welcomed a baby earlier this year – split their time almost equally between Kyneton in her electorate and St Kilda, and that the arrangement was necessary due to their unique family situation and work requirements.
Purcell said she did not see an issue with the policy, saying it made being a parliamentarian accessible for people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
“It is better than staying in hotels and what comes with that,” she said.
“I would be spending an allowance anyway because I am a regional MP and travel from home to parliament is not possible, especially with the long hours in the Legislative Council.
“Having that consistent place where you can go to is really important as a member of parliament.”
A Victorian government spokesperson said the tribunal specified eligibility criteria for claiming this allowance.
“All regional MPs receive this allowance and must act appropriately and within the guidelines,” she said. “All the premier’s disclosures are made in accordance with parliamentary guidelines.”
A Victorian opposition spokesperson said all allowance claims were made consistent with parliamentary guidelines.
Disclosures of the allowance are only available from 2019. The overhaul was sparked by The Age’s revelations in 2017 that parliamentary speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy Don Nardella were claiming the second residence allowance designed for country MPs, by moving their registered homes away from the western suburbs electorates they represented to Ocean Grove and Queenscliff.
This investigation led to the creation of the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal, as well as laws that mandate the proactive and detailed publication of all such claims.
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Daniella White is a state political reporter for The Age. Contact her at da.white@nine.com.auConnect via X or email.
