Zhi Soon claimed $475,578 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 194th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $141,288. Largest categories: Office Administration ($253,125); Office Facilities ($113,501); Employee Travel ($56,895). 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.
Zhi Soon's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – Zhi Soon, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$253,125
$221,473
$31,652 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$233,304
Office Consumables and Services
$19,235
Publications
$586
Office Facilities – Zhi Soon, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$113,501
$183,185
$69,684 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$113,501
Employee Travel – Zhi Soon, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$56,895
$114,932
$58,037 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$56,895
Travel Allowance – Zhi Soon, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$26,308
$31,310
$5,002 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$26,308
Other Car Costs – Zhi Soon, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$19,343
$27,108
$7,765 below the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$16,003
Private Vehicle Allowance
$3,302
Parking
$38
Telecommunications – Zhi Soon, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$4,588
$2,701
$1,887 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,588
Family or Nominee Travel – Zhi Soon, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$1,818
$3,367
$1,549 below the median of $3,367
Private Vehicle Allowance
$1,818
Total across all periods: $486,127 (1 Apr 2025 – 30 Jun 2026, 5 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 – Zhi Soon, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$253,125
Printing and Communications
$233,304
Office Consumables and Services
$19,235
Publications
$586
Office Facilities – Zhi Soon, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$122,347
Office Facilities - Not stated
$122,347
Employee Travel – Zhi Soon, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$58,598
Domestic Travel
$58,598
Travel Allowance – Zhi Soon, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$26,308
Travel Allowance
$26,308
Other Car Costs – Zhi Soon, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$19,343
Private-Plated Vehicle
$16,003
Private Vehicle Allowance
$3,302
Parking
$38
Telecommunications – Zhi Soon, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$4,588
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,588
Family or Nominee Travel – Zhi Soon, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$1,818
Private Vehicle Allowance
$1,818
What’s included in these figures
The total for Zhi Soon is the sum of all expenses charged to Zhi Soon’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?
Zhi Soon’s four-quarter total of $475,578 (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 $141,288, against an average of $118,894 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. Zhi Soon’s total of $475,578 is $172,128 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 194th 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.” Zhi Soon’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($253,125).
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 Zhi Soon this came to $1,818 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.
