Susan McDonald’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $802,446
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)
Position: Shadow Minister for Resources; Shadow Minister for Northern Australia; member of the Shadow Cabinet; Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate
Susan McDonald is Shadow Minister for Resources; Shadow Minister for Northern Australia; member of the Shadow Cabinet; Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate. Susan McDonald claimed $802,446 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 55th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $250,281. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($224,536); Office Facilities ($171,436); Office Administration ($167,818). 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: Shadow minister (cabinet or outer)
9
$586,683
$215,763 above this group's median of $586,683
State: QLD
12
$726,812
$75,634 above this group's median of $726,812
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.
Susan McDonald's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$224,536
$114,932
$109,604 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$224,536
Office Facilities – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$171,436
$183,185
$11,749 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$171,436
Office Administration – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$167,818
$221,473
$53,655 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$131,871
Office Consumables and Services
$30,878
Publications
$5,069
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$123,546
$43,715
$79,831 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$123,546
Other Car Costs – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$67,045
$27,108
$39,937 above the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$33,525
Private-Plated Vehicle
$33,393
Parking
$127
Travel Allowance – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$44,250
$31,310
$12,940 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$44,250
Telecommunications – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,362
$2,701
$339 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$2,362
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Susan McDonald, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$1,453
$378
$1,075 above the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$1,773
Electorate Duties
$14
Official Duties
-$334
Total across all periods: $4,529,814 (1 Jul 2019 – 30 Jun 2026, 28 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 – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$1,340,541
Domestic Travel
$1,340,541
Office Facilities – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$885,142
Office Facilities - Not stated
$885,142
Office Administration – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$787,393
Printing and Communications
$608,731
Office Consumables and Services
$145,164
Publications
$18,276
Telephonic Services
$15,222
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$622,432
Fares
$622,432
Travel Allowance – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$302,550
Travel Allowance
$302,550
Other Car Costs – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$287,793
Private-Plated Vehicle
$156,220
COMCAR
$130,062
Parking
$1,511
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$254,872
Official Duties
$125,385
Electorate Duties
$69,624
Parliamentary Duties
$59,863
Telecommunications – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$29,965
Telecommunications - Usage
$29,965
International Travel – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$14,015
Parliamentary Delegations
$14,015
Family or Nominee Travel – Susan McDonald, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$5,112
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$5,112
What’s included in these figures
The total for Susan McDonald is the sum of all expenses charged to Susan McDonald’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?
Susan McDonald’s four-quarter total of $802,446 (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 $250,281, against an average of $200,611 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. Susan McDonald’s total of $802,446 is $154,740 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 55th 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.” Susan McDonald’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($224,536).
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 Susan McDonald 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.
