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Sue Lines’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $987,851 (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)

Position: President of the Senate

Sue Lines is President of the Senate. Sue Lines claimed $987,851 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 39th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $224,657. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($417,596); Office Facilities ($272,182); Office Administration ($85,841). 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.

Comparisons to similar groups

ClusterMembersCluster median (last 4 quarters)This total vs the median
Position: Presiding officer2$802,779$185,072 above this group's median of $802,779
State: WA12$602,465$385,386 above this group's median of $602,465

Senators are grouped by state or territory and by the highest office they hold (minister, assistant minister, presiding officer, opposition leadership, shadow minister, shadow assistant minister, party leadership, whip, or backbencher); 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. Ministry and shadow-ministry roles are from the Parliamentary Handbook.

Jump to total across all periods ($5,446,088)

See individual expense line items, quarter by quarter

Compare Sue Lines with other politicians

Expenses by quarter

QuarterDatesTotal claimedTop category
Q2 20261 Apr – 30 Jun 2026$224,657Employee Travel ($97,119)
Q1 20261 Jan – 31 Mar 2026$241,846Employee Travel ($109,666)
Q4 20251 Oct – 31 Dec 2025$294,739Employee Travel ($143,083)
Q3 20251 Jul – 30 Sep 2025$226,609Employee Travel ($67,727)
Q2 20251 Apr – 30 Jun 2025$137,167Office Facilities ($47,746)
Q1 20251 Jan – 31 Mar 2025$176,626Office Facilities ($76,859)
Q4 20241 Oct – 31 Dec 2024$313,340Employee Travel ($143,126)
Q3 20241 Jul – 30 Sep 2024$256,725Employee Travel ($98,163)

Expenses by category

Sue Lines's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.

Employee Travel – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Employee Travel$417,596$114,932$302,664 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel$318,647
International Travel$98,949
Office Facilities – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Office Facilities$272,182$183,185$88,997 above the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated$272,182
Office Administration – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Office Administration$85,841$221,473$135,632 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications$55,419
Office Consumables and Services$29,836
Publications$586
International Travel – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
International Travel$78,670$0$78,670 above the median of $0
Official Visits$78,670
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Scheduled Commercial Transport$73,350$43,715$29,635 above the median of $43,715
Fares$73,350
Travel Allowance – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Travel Allowance$37,056$31,310$5,746 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance$37,056
Family or Nominee Travel – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Family or Nominee Travel$9,492$3,367$6,125 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport$9,492
Other Car Costs – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Other Car Costs$6,823$27,108$20,285 below the median of $27,108
COMCAR$6,823
Telecommunications – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Telecommunications$4,136$2,701$1,435 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Residential - Official$2,380
Telecommunications - Usage$1,757
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Sue Lines, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport$2,706$378$2,328 above the median of $378
Electorate Duties$2,013
Parliamentary Duties$693

Total across all periods: $5,446,088 (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 Facilities – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Office Facilities$1,810,667
Office Facilities - Not stated$1,810,667
Employee Travel – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Employee Travel$1,581,520
Domestic Travel$1,350,901
International Travel$230,620
Office Administration – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Office Administration$735,731
Printing and Communications$546,221
Office Consumables and Services$157,032
Telephonic Services$22,893
Publications$9,584
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Scheduled Commercial Transport$451,374
Fares$451,374
International Travel – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
International Travel$340,076
Official Visits$303,849
Parliamentary Delegations$28,304
Representing Australia$7,923
Travel Allowance – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Travel Allowance$272,657
Travel Allowance$271,335
Cancelled Accommodation$1,322
Other Car Costs – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Other Car Costs$99,669
Private-Plated Vehicle$52,066
COMCAR$46,774
Parking$620
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs$209
Family or Nominee Travel – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Family or Nominee Travel$71,118
Scheduled Commercial Transport$70,925
COMCAR$194
Telecommunications – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Telecommunications$51,533
Telecommunications - Usage$32,626
Telecommunications - Residential - Official$18,907
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Sue Lines, all periods
CategoryAmount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport$31,743
Parliamentary Duties$17,179
Electorate Duties$13,830
Electorate$734

What’s included in these figures

The total for Sue Lines is the sum of all expenses charged to Sue Lines’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?

Sue Lines’s four-quarter total of $987,851 (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 $224,657, against an average of $246,963 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. Sue Lines’s total of $987,851 is $340,145 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 39th 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.” Sue Lines’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($417,596).

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 Sue Lines this came to $9,492 over the window.

Generated 2026-10-23 • Data: IPEA • Political Gadgets