Matt Thistlethwaite’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $1,175,736
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)
Position: Assistant Minister for Immigration; Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
Matt Thistlethwaite is Assistant Minister for Immigration; Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Matt Thistlethwaite claimed $1,175,736 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 28th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $368,977. Largest categories: Office Facilities ($387,689); Office Administration ($282,845); Employee Travel ($265,227). 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.
Matt Thistlethwaite's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Facilities – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$387,689
$183,185
$204,504 above the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$387,689
Office Administration – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$282,845
$221,473
$61,372 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$265,717
Office Consumables and Services
$16,451
Publications
$677
Employee Travel – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$265,227
$114,932
$150,295 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$181,538
International Travel
$83,689
International Travel – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$94,388
$0
$94,388 above the median of $0
Ministerial Visits
$94,388
Other Car Costs – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$74,798
$27,108
$47,690 above the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$58,229
COMCAR
$16,569
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$39,957
$43,715
$3,758 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$39,957
Travel Allowance – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$27,446
$31,310
$3,864 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$27,446
Telecommunications – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$3,013
$2,701
$312 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,724
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,289
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Matt Thistlethwaite, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$372
$378
$6 below the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$265
Official Duties
$107
Total across all periods: $6,391,770 (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.
Office Facilities – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$2,268,479
Office Facilities - Not stated
$2,268,479
Office Administration – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$2,255,919
Printing and Communications
$2,090,267
Office Consumables and Services
$146,577
Publications
$16,594
Telephonic Services
$2,481
Employee Travel – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$845,839
Domestic Travel
$700,199
International Travel
$145,640
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$306,290
Fares
$306,290
Other Car Costs – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$262,423
Private-Plated Vehicle
$158,038
COMCAR
$104,427
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
-$42
International Travel – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$203,408
Ministerial Visits
$183,437
Parliamentary Delegations
$19,971
Travel Allowance – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$191,675
Travel Allowance
$191,675
Telecommunications – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$53,063
Telecommunications - Usage
$42,912
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$10,150
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$3,483
Official Duties
$1,774
Parliamentary Duties
$1,709
Family or Nominee Travel – Matt Thistlethwaite, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$1,193
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$1,193
What’s included in these figures
The total for Matt Thistlethwaite is the sum of all expenses charged to Matt Thistlethwaite’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?
Matt Thistlethwaite’s four-quarter total of $1,175,736 (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 $368,977, against an average of $293,934 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. Matt Thistlethwaite’s total of $1,175,736 is $528,030 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 28th 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.” Matt Thistlethwaite’s largest category over the window was Office Facilities ($387,689).
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 Matt Thistlethwaite 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.