Lalor MP Joanne Ryan has justified her claim for excess car insurance after a “smash and grab” break-in while she was at an official event.
The Department of Finance’s six-monthly expenditure report for January to June 2016 shows Ms Ryan racked up $172,480 in expenses over the six-month period, plus an extra $24,679 prior to January 1 last year.
Among the pre-January 2016 expenses was a $500 car “accident excess” claim in December 2015 for a private plated lease car.
Ms Ryan said she had been at a school graduation in her electorate when the car’s driver side window was smashed and her handbag stolen from the passenger seat.
Ms Ryan said, under lease car conditions, the driver’s side window had to be replaced and interior damage had to be fixed.
She said she felt justified in claiming the expense of using her excess as she was acting in her capacity as Lalor MP at the time.
Ms Ryan’s expenses record reveals the MP claimed more than $5500 for private plated vehicles, plus another $960 for using Commonwealth cars – which she says she only used for trips to and from the airport to avoid parking fees, and for when she and her staff were in Canberra.
She also defended $81,000 spent on her office – including a new fit-out, security and waste management – and the cost of seven return trips to Canberra totalling $8300.
These, she said, were “fully flexible” fares that allowed her to change the time, or day, of flights as required by her changing schedule.
When asked if the entitlements system needed an overhaul in the wake of the Sussan Ley scandal, and other entitlement claims failing to pass the “pub test”, Ms Ryan was circumspect, particularly in relation to female parliamentarians.
“When people say that parliamentarians shouldn’t be able to travel with their families … I have some fears that, if you tighten that up, women like Amanda Rishworth, Kate Ellis won’t be in parliament, because they’ve got a small child.
“I’m not saying I wouldn’t change the entitlements in any way; I do perceive that some people have … stretched what I would think is commonsense.”
