Topics: Anika Wells’ travel expenses, Farrer by-election
Kieran Gilbert: Now on the Farrer by-election, joining me is Liberal frontbencher Sarah Henderson, the Shadow Communications Minister. I want to get to Farrer in a moment. First though, some developing news. You’re reacting to the story in relation to the travel expenses around the Communications Minister Anika Wells, and the fact that there wasn’t any corroborating of her claim made that she’d met with the South Australian minister. What exactly has gone on here? And what would you like to see happen?
Senator Henderson: Kieran, we know that there were four breaches of Anika Wells travel and family entitlements, and she was ordered to pay more than $10,000. So, there’s been a real scandal over many of her travel claims. But we have now learned today, and this has been published in the AFR, that a birthday party she attended last June with the South Australian minister Chris Picton – he’s now declined to say that she actually had a sideline meeting. She’s trying to claim that this was official business. He has declined to corroborate her claim as to why she actually made a claim for her travel expenses on that night and on that day. And so James McGrath, the Shadow Special Minister of State, and myself are just about to issue a media release calling on the Prime Minister to stand down Minister Anika Wells while he investigates what appears to be a serious breach of the Ministerial Standards. If she has been caught out lying to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority because she said she attended a sideline meeting, it all seems very hard to believe. It does not pass the pub test. She’s at a birthday party with the minister. The birthday party is for the minister’s wife. She says she’s attending an official ministerial meeting at the birthday party. I think party goers were blowing out the candles while the minister was blowing up her credibility, and the Prime Minister now has no choice but to stand her down and investigate what appears to be a serious breach of her entitlements.
Kieran Gilbert: In relation to the broader entitlements, Anika Wells, in her statement, said there were a few hundred trips, I think it was 250 from memory, only four with question marks over them. This from memory wasn’t one of the key ones where there was a question mark. But this relates to a claim that she said she had had a meeting with that state minister, which, as you say, there’s a cloud over that now.
Senator Henderson: IPEA conducted a full audit, and they asked questions about when did she conclude her parliamentary business, on 7th June 2025. She said the meeting she said originally that she was going to have with the minister was in the afternoon, and I’m reading it here from the audit – “did not take place as scheduled in the afternoon due to the prior meeting running over. We instead held a sideline meeting during a function later that evening.” Now we know that function was the birthday party, and she’s saying that “my parliamentary business concluded at 7:45pm”. So, the whole thing has a very, very bad smell about it. We know there are four breaches. This minister, like all cabinet ministers, has a very serious obligation to be accountable for taxpayers’ money Kieran.
Kieran Gilbert: And that state minister could, it’s not that hard for them to respond to the questions that have been put to them.
Senator Henderson: Well, that’s exactly right.
Kieran Gilbert: If they wanted to confirm it, they could one way or the other, and this could be cleaned up. So we’ll see what happens. But you think, in the meantime, the Prime Minister should stand her aside.
Senator Henderson: I absolutely think, and as does James McGrath, that the Prime Minister, must now stand down his minister and investigate this particular weekend travel. She’s got a pretty sordid track record when it comes to managing her travel. A lot of things are going wrong for Anika Wells, whether it’s the social media ban, whether it’s the terrible fuel levy on Australia Post small business customers. But this is beyond the pale, and now the Prime Minister has no choice.
Kieran Gilbert: On the Farrer by-election, how devastating was that result for your party?
Senator Henderson: Look, it was a very disappointing result Kieran, there is no two ways about it.
Kieran Gilbert: Shocked a lot of you?
Senator Henderson: I was shocked, and I think many of us were shocked. We knew that it was coming, we knew we weren’t tracking as we should, and we know that we have got a lot of hard work to do to rebuild the trust and faith of Australians. It’s as simple as that.
Kieran Gilbert: It’s a key week, Budget week for Mr. Taylor as well, isn’t it? This is his strong suit, the budget you know, former Shadow Treasurer. He believes this is his strength. He needs to show it. Is that a fair way to put it, for the next for weeks?
Senator Henderson: Of course, but Angus has been in the leadership job for a pretty short amount of time. In that time, he has been going 24/7 announcing policies, whether it’s on the fuel security dilemmas of this country, whether it’s on immigration, on housing, he has been working day and night as the leader of our team to drive those policies, following, of course, a pretty difficult period when previously we had a policy vacuum, we had the coalition split twice. So Angus is working very, very hard, as are we all to repair the damage.
Kieran Gilbert: And as we head towards November and the Victorian election, I know it’s a fair way off, but this Jess Wilson, you’d think would be feeling pretty good about where she is, but this one nation surge, it complicates all of that makes it very tough.
Senator Henderson: Well, we are very aligned on one mission Kieran, and that is to get rid of a very bad state Labor government in Victoria and a very bad federal Labor government right across this country.
Kieran Gilbert: When you say aligned, would you be happy to have coalition with One Nation?
Senator Henderson: No, no, I’m not saying that, and we have a very important coalition between the Libs and the Nats. But we are aligned on that mission, and that is to get rid of a terrible Labor government. Both in the state – Victoria is a complete basket case, riddled with debt and corruption. And of course, the federal government is spending like drunken sailors, driving up inflation, driving up interest rates, making all Australians poorer, causing so much hardship for so many families. And so that is our mission, and that’s very much the mission that you will see from Angus Taylor on Budget Reply night on Thursday.
Kieran Gilbert: Are you worried about the preferencing thing and getting too close to One Nation? Is that an issue for you, given you’ve still got to try and win back teal, the so called teal seats, those inner city voters?
Senator Henderson: Our focus is on standing up for all Australians with conviction, delivering those policies that Australians expect us to deliver. I heard this morning Labor ministers talking about the housing crisis and how they’re building more houses. What a joke Kieran, I mean, 1.4 million people have come to this country in three and a half years. We have a complete mismanagement of mass migration into this country. Labor will not look at their very obvious and serious mistakes, and we are determined to get this country back on track.
Kieran Gilbert: Sarah Henderson, thanks as always, we’ll talk to you soon.
Senator Henderson: Thanks Kieran.