Chris Bowen’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $1,552,173
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 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 $1,552,173 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026, the 2025–26 financial year), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 12th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $369,298. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($618,496); Office Facilities ($405,705); Office Administration ($235,623). 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 224 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 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$618,496
$114,932
$503,564 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$443,977
International Travel
$174,519
Office Facilities – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$405,705
$183,185
$222,520 above the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$405,705
Office Administration – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$235,623
$221,473
$14,150 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$201,773
Office Consumables and Services
$33,264
Publications
$586
International Travel – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$170,679
$0
$170,679 above the median of $0
Ministerial Visits
$170,679
Other Car Costs – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$46,588
$27,108
$19,480 above the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$31,900
Private-Plated Vehicle
$14,688
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$36,375
$43,715
$7,340 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$36,375
Travel Allowance – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$28,098
$31,310
$3,212 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$28,098
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$7,269
$378
$6,891 above the median of $378
Official Duties
$6,677
Parliamentary Duties
$592
Telecommunications – Chris Bowen, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$3,339
$2,701
$638 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,933
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,407
Total across all periods: $8,578,723 (1 Jan 2018 – 30 Jun 2026, 34 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
$2,619,642
Domestic Travel
$2,088,980
International Travel
$530,661
Office Facilities – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$2,609,892
Office Facilities - Not stated
$2,609,892
Office Administration – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$1,959,981
Printing and Communications
$1,786,434
Office Consumables and Services
$152,505
Publications
$20,748
Telephonic Services
$294
International Travel – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$466,692
Ministerial Visits
$465,311
Official Visits
$1,381
Other Car Costs – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$410,765
COMCAR
$260,338
Private-Plated Vehicle
$150,427
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$262,095
Fares
$262,095
Travel Allowance – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$176,573
Travel Allowance
$176,573
Telecommunications – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$62,612
Telecommunications - Usage
$46,523
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$16,090
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Chris Bowen, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$10,472
Official Duties
$7,933
Parliamentary Duties
$2,539
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 2025–26 financial year: 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 2 Sep 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 2026-10-23.
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 $1,552,173 (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026) smooths out one-off quarters such as an election period or an overseas trip. The latest single quarter (Apr–Jun 2026) was $369,298, against an average of $388,043 a quarter across the window.
What is the median and how is it calculated?
The median is the middle four-quarter total when all 224 sitting parliamentarians are ranked: half claimed less than $647,706 and half more. Chris Bowen’s total of $1,552,173 is $904,467 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 12th of 224.
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 ($618,496).
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.
