Position: Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; member of Cabinet
Catherine King is Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; member of Cabinet. Catherine King claimed $989,104 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 38th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $218,042. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($350,932); Office Administration ($261,059); Office Facilities ($170,999). 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.
Catherine King's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Catherine King, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$350,932
$114,932
$236,000 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$350,932
Office Administration – Catherine King, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$261,059
$221,473
$39,586 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$206,584
Office Consumables and Services
$50,637
Publications
$3,838
Office Facilities – Catherine King, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$170,999
$183,185
$12,186 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$170,999
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Catherine King, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$88,958
$43,715
$45,243 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$88,958
Other Car Costs – Catherine King, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$65,660
$27,108
$38,552 above the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$53,285
Private-Plated Vehicle
$12,320
Parking
$54
Travel Allowance – Catherine King, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$47,378
$31,310
$16,068 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$47,378
Telecommunications – Catherine King, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$4,118
$2,701
$1,417 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$2,283
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,835
Total across all periods: $6,553,435 (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.
Office Administration – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$1,790,322
Printing and Communications
$1,445,243
Office Consumables and Services
$300,147
Publications
$44,932
Employee Travel – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$1,747,071
Domestic Travel
$1,711,001
International Travel
$36,070
Office Facilities – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,383,923
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,383,923
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$626,378
Fares
$626,378
Other Car Costs – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$553,459
COMCAR
$379,640
Private-Plated Vehicle
$173,190
Parking
$629
Travel Allowance – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$325,127
Travel Allowance
$324,868
Cancelled Accommodation
$259
Telecommunications – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$63,768
Telecommunications - Usage
$48,344
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$15,424
International Travel – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$56,320
Ministerial Visits
$56,320
Family or Nominee Travel – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$5,853
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$5,425
COMCAR
$428
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Catherine King, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$1,213
Parliamentary Duties
$863
Official Duties
$350
What’s included in these figures
The total for Catherine King is the sum of all expenses charged to Catherine King’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?
Catherine King’s four-quarter total of $989,104 (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 $218,042, against an average of $247,276 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. Catherine King’s total of $989,104 is $341,398 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 38th 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.” Catherine King’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($350,932).
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 Catherine King 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.
