James McGrath’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $819,950
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Position: Shadow Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities; Shadow Minister for Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games; Shadow Special Minister of State
James McGrath is Shadow Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities; Shadow Minister for Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games; Shadow Special Minister of State. James McGrath claimed $819,950 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 72nd of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $230,673. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($296,075); Office Facilities ($167,335); Office Administration ($126,043). 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 226 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
$652,501
$167,449 above this group's median of $652,501
State: QLD
12
$798,757
$21,193 above this group's median of $798,757
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.
James McGrath's total in each category over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$296,075
$124,917
$171,158 above the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$296,075
Office Facilities – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$167,335
$188,110
$20,775 below the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$167,335
Office Administration – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$126,043
$262,346
$136,303 below the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$78,397
Office Consumables and Services
$43,343
Publications
$4,302
Scheduled Commercial Transport – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$92,104
$45,732
$46,372 above the median of $45,732
Fares
$92,104
Other Car Costs – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$87,482
$28,254
$59,228 above the median of $28,254
Private-Plated Vehicle
$72,663
COMCAR
$11,106
Parking
$3,713
Travel Allowance – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$38,692
$34,320
$4,372 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$38,692
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$5,340
$340
$5,000 above the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$3,063
Electorate Duties
$2,127
Party Political Duties
$150
Family or Nominee Travel – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$4,090
$1,839
$2,251 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$3,334
COMCAR
$756
Telecommunications – James McGrath, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,789
$2,683
$106 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,948
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$841
Total across all periods: $5,051,255 (1 Jan 2018 – 30 Sep 2026, 35 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 – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,267,086
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,267,086
Employee Travel – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$1,073,002
Domestic Travel
$1,067,097
International Travel
$5,905
Office Administration – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$971,029
Printing and Communications
$675,093
Office Consumables and Services
$218,920
Specified Public Resources
$37,312
Publications
$33,705
Telephonic Services
$6,000
Other Car Costs – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$593,585
Private-Plated Vehicle
$489,458
COMCAR
$79,616
Parking
$24,510
Scheduled Commercial Transport – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$497,934
Fares
$497,934
Travel Allowance – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$479,641
Travel Allowance
$479,641
Telecommunications – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$69,301
Telecommunications - Usage
$61,835
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$7,466
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$57,121
Electorate Duties
$35,352
Parliamentary Duties
$21,601
Party Political Duties
$168
Family or Nominee Travel – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$23,073
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$15,615
COMCAR
$7,458
International Travel – James McGrath, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$19,482
Parliamentary Delegations
$12,338
Ministerial Visits
$7,144
What’s included in these figures
The total for James McGrath is the sum of all expenses charged to James McGrath’s parliamentary office and
reported by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): 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 11 Nov 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 2026-11-12.
Political Gadgets’ compilation is licensed
CC BY-NC 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
Why four quarters instead of one?
James McGrath’s four-quarter total of $819,950 (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026) smooths out one-off quarters such as an election period or an overseas trip. The latest single quarter (Jul–Sep 2026) was $230,673, against an average of $204,987 a quarter across the window.
What is the median and how is it calculated?
The median is the middle four-quarter total when all 226 sitting parliamentarians are ranked: half claimed less than $704,511 and half more. James McGrath’s total of $819,950 is $115,439 above the median of $704,511, which ranks 72nd of 226.
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.” James McGrath’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($296,075).
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 James McGrath this came to $4,090 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.
