David Smith’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $472,610
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)
Position: Government Whip
David Smith is Government Whip. David Smith claimed $472,610 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 195th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $147,423. Largest categories: Office Administration ($273,653); Office Facilities ($167,546); Other Car Costs ($18,663). 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.
David Smith's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$273,653
$221,473
$52,180 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$245,314
Office Consumables and Services
$26,708
Publications
$1,632
Office Facilities – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$167,546
$183,185
$15,639 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$167,546
Other Car Costs – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$18,663
$27,108
$8,445 below the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$18,508
COMCAR
$155
Scheduled Commercial Transport – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$4,150
$43,715
$39,565 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$4,150
Employee Travel – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$3,366
$114,932
$111,566 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$3,366
Travel Allowance – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$2,831
$31,310
$28,479 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$2,831
Telecommunications – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$1,592
$2,701
$1,109 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,592
International Travel – David Smith, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$808
$0
$808 above the median of $0
Parliamentary Delegations
$808
Total across all periods: $3,231,492 (1 Apr 2018 – 30 Jun 2026, 33 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 – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$1,869,215
Printing and Communications
$1,698,156
Office Consumables and Services
$153,813
Publications
$9,882
Telephonic Services
$7,364
Office Facilities – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,137,434
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,137,434
Other Car Costs – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$101,925
Private-Plated Vehicle
$99,502
COMCAR
$2,293
Parking
$130
Scheduled Commercial Transport – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$43,966
Fares
$43,966
Telecommunications – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$26,984
Telecommunications - Usage
$26,984
Employee Travel – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$23,695
Domestic Travel
$23,695
Travel Allowance – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$21,377
Travel Allowance
$21,050
Cancelled Accommodation
$327
Family or Nominee Travel – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$3,290
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$3,290
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$2,798
Parliamentary Duties
$1,865
Electorate Duties
$1,025
Official Duties
-$92
International Travel – David Smith, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$808
Parliamentary Delegations
$808
What’s included in these figures
The total for David Smith is the sum of all expenses charged to David Smith’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?
David Smith’s four-quarter total of $472,610 (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 $147,423, against an average of $118,153 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. David Smith’s total of $472,610 is $175,096 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 195th 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.” David Smith’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($273,653).
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 David Smith 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.
