June 2026

$329 for a 2km trip? This is how politicians turn bureaucratic slackness into a taxpayer-funded lifestyle.

The latest example is Sport Minister Anika Wells, who reportedly charged taxpayers up to $337 for single Comcar trips around Canberra — some as short as 3km.

For everyone else, that’s a taxi ride. Or an Uber. Or, heaven forbid, a short walk.

But in Canberra, it becomes an “entitlement”.

That is the magic word. Entitlement. It turns ordinary common sense into a bureaucratic fog. It allows politicians to do things no normal business would tolerate, then hide behind the rules when the public gets angry.

Wells has already been ordered to repay more than $10,000 after an audit found she breached taxpayer-funded travel rules four times, including flights for her husband to the AFL Grand Final and family-related travel.

Now we learn the expenses authority thinks slugging taxpayers hundreds of dollars for tiny car trips is apparently fine.

A 3km trip from Parkes to Kingston cost $337. Another 4km trip cost $291. A 2.3km trip cost $329 — or $54 a minute.

The excuse? “Unexpected delays.”

The real problem is expected weakness.

The rules are loose. The scrutiny is late. The culture is rotten. And politicians know it.

They know bureaucracies move slowly. They know public money is treated as nobody’s money. They know that, by the time anyone starts asking questions, the ride is over, the claim is processed and the taxpayer has been fleeced again.

This is not about one car trip. It is about a system that lets politicians enjoy private convenience at public expense.

Australians are told to tighten their belts while ministers climb into chauffeur-driven cars for journeys most people would not even claim on petty cash.

That is not leadership.

It is privilege with a fuel card. And the bill gets sent to the taxpayer.