Position: Minister for Indigenous Australians; member of Cabinet
Malarndirri McCarthy is Minister for Indigenous Australians; member of Cabinet. Malarndirri McCarthy claimed $1,479,142 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 15th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $388,172. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($746,107); Office Facilities ($286,040); Scheduled Commercial Transport ($132,051). 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
Cluster
Members
Cluster median (last 4 quarters)
This total vs the median
Position: Minister (cabinet or outer ministry)
8
$1,365,453
$113,689 above this group's median of $1,365,453
State: NT
2
$1,032,079
$447,063 above this group's median of $1,032,079
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.
Malarndirri McCarthy's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Malarndirri McCarthy, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$746,107
$114,932
$631,175 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$746,107
Office Facilities – Malarndirri McCarthy, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$286,040
$183,185
$102,855 above the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$286,040
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Malarndirri McCarthy, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$132,051
$43,715
$88,336 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$132,051
Other Car Costs – Malarndirri McCarthy, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$103,963
$27,108
$76,855 above the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$86,834
COMCAR
$17,129
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Malarndirri McCarthy, 2025–26
International Travel – Malarndirri McCarthy, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
-$58
$0
$58 below the median of $0
Ministerial Visits
-$58
Total across all periods: $6,416,392 (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 – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$2,342,187
Domestic Travel
$2,309,263
International Travel
$32,924
Office Facilities – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,308,038
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,308,038
Office Administration – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$777,633
Printing and Communications
$641,979
Office Consumables and Services
$118,896
Publications
$16,759
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$567,912
Fares
$567,912
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$544,852
Electorate Duties
$241,333
Official Duties
$181,745
Parliamentary Duties
$93,156
Party Political Duties
$27,090
Cancelled Transport
$1,295
Electorate
$192
Special Charter
$40
Other Car Costs – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$384,241
Private-Plated Vehicle
$317,531
COMCAR
$64,471
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$1,688
Parking
$550
Travel Allowance – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$310,599
Travel Allowance
$308,188
Cancelled Accommodation
$2,411
Family or Nominee Travel – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$97,639
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$97,379
COMCAR
$260
Telecommunications – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$43,285
Telecommunications - Usage
$39,354
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$3,931
International Travel – Malarndirri McCarthy, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$40,005
Ministerial Visits
$40,005
What’s included in these figures
The total for Malarndirri McCarthy is the sum of all expenses charged to Malarndirri McCarthy’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?
Malarndirri McCarthy’s four-quarter total of $1,479,142 (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 $388,172, against an average of $369,785 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. Malarndirri McCarthy’s total of $1,479,142 is $831,436 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 15th 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.” Malarndirri McCarthy’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($746,107).
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 Malarndirri McCarthy this came to $15,778 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.
