Chris Bowen’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $1,577,885
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Position: Minister for Climate Change and Energy; member of Cabinet
Chris Bowen is Minister for Climate Change and Energy; member of Cabinet. Chris Bowen claimed $1,577,885 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 10th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $318,813. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($638,573); Office Facilities ($339,315); Office Administration ($310,658). Includes family and nominee travel, as in IPEA's own totals.
How these figures differ from IPEA’s
IPEA reports claims quarter by quarter. Political Gadgets adds up the latest four reported quarters to smooth one-off spikes (an election period, an overseas trip), then compares each parliamentarian with the median of all 226 and, for House members, with similar groups. The underlying data is IPEA’s; IPEA is the authoritative source. See IPEA’s Background on Expenditure Reporting.
Clusters group the 150 House electorates by shared traits (front-bench position, seat area, state, urban/rural); medians use the same rolling four-quarter totals as the headline figure, including family and nominee travel. Clusters with a single member are not shown. Source: Compare Electorates – browse by cluster.
Chris Bowen's total in each category over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$638,573
$124,917
$513,656 above the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$464,692
International Travel
$173,881
Office Facilities – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$339,315
$188,110
$151,205 above the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$339,315
Office Administration – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$310,658
$262,346
$48,312 above the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$281,416
Office Consumables and Services
$28,657
Publications
$586
International Travel – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$167,964
$0
$167,964 above the median of $0
Ministerial Visits
$167,964
Other Car Costs – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$46,530
$28,254
$18,276 above the median of $28,254
COMCAR
$29,803
Private-Plated Vehicle
$16,727
Travel Allowance – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$30,467
$34,320
$3,853 below the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$30,467
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$30,122
$45,732
$15,610 below the median of $45,732
Fares
$30,122
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$11,287
$340
$10,947 above the median of $340
Official Duties
$10,728
Parliamentary Duties
$559
Telecommunications – Chris Bowen, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,968
$2,683
$285 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,486
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,482
Total across all periods: $8,897,536 (1 Jan 2018 – 30 Sep 2026, 35 quarters)
Refunds and credits are netted off. Category names from earlier reporting formats are matched to their current names. Explore quarter by quarter.
Employee Travel – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$2,766,402
Domestic Travel
$2,234,260
International Travel
$532,141
Office Facilities – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$2,663,674
Office Facilities - Not stated
$2,663,674
Office Administration – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$2,046,806
Printing and Communications
$1,869,346
Office Consumables and Services
$156,418
Publications
$20,748
Telephonic Services
$294
International Travel – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$466,482
Ministerial Visits
$465,101
Official Visits
$1,381
Other Car Costs – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$418,158
COMCAR
$266,674
Private-Plated Vehicle
$151,485
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$266,991
Fares
$266,991
Travel Allowance – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$184,778
Travel Allowance
$184,778
Telecommunications – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$63,090
Telecommunications - Usage
$46,782
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$16,308
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$21,154
Official Duties
$18,438
Parliamentary Duties
$2,716
What’s included in these figures
The total for Chris Bowen is the sum of all expenses charged to Chris Bowen’s parliamentary office and
reported by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): travel,
office facilities and administration, vehicles, communications and other categories. Refunds and credits
are netted off, so a category can be negative. Family and nominee travel is included, as in
IPEA’s own headline total for a parliamentarian: those claims are attributed to the parliamentarian who made them and shown as their own category,
“Family or Nominee Travel”.
Method and data source
Quarterly claims are taken from IPEA’s open data on
data.gov.au (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia), current to the IPEA release of 11 Nov 2026.
Totals cover the four most recent reported quarters; the median and rank are calculated across all
sitting parliamentarians with claims in the same window. Earlier category names are matched to current ones.
Figures are compiled from IPEA data; IPEA is the authoritative source. Page generated 2026-11-12.
Political Gadgets’ compilation is licensed
CC BY-NC 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
Why four quarters instead of one?
Chris Bowen’s four-quarter total of $1,577,885 (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026) smooths out one-off quarters such as an election period or an overseas trip. The latest single quarter (Jul–Sep 2026) was $318,813, against an average of $394,471 a quarter across the window.
What is the median and how is it calculated?
The median is the middle four-quarter total when all 226 sitting parliamentarians are ranked: half claimed less than $704,511 and half more. Chris Bowen’s total of $1,577,885 is $873,374 above the median of $704,511, which ranks 10th of 226.
Why do some parliamentarians claim much more than others?
IPEA says: “When comparing expenditure between parliamentarians, it is important to take into account the parliamentarian’s role, the size of their electorate, and their electorate’s distance from the closest capital city and Canberra.” Chris Bowen’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($638,573).
Is family and nominee travel included?
Yes. Claims for travel by family members or nominees are attributed to the parliamentarian who made them and counted in their total, as in IPEA’s own totals. For Chris Bowen this came to $0 over the window.
Expenditure data is compiled by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) and released under Creative Commons Licence (data.gov.au).
In all fairness there are some good reasons for variance in expenditure. The IPEA points out: "When comparing expenditure between parliamentarians, it is important to take into account the parliamentarian's role, the size of their electorate, and their electorate's distance from the closest capital city and Canberra. Further information on why some offices may have higher travel expenditure can be found on the IPEA website Background on Expenditure Reporting page."
Former members are not included in the totals, rankings or medians shown here.