One of the huge benefits of incumbency is that politicians get to spend government money on things like travel, printing and a shopfront. It is all legitimate, but it's important to understand it is going on.

The chart shows what federal MPs and Senators claimed each quarter, from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA). By default it shows real (CPI-adjusted) dollars per politician, so quarters with more or fewer politicians, and inflation, do not distort the picture. Click a coloured segment to see the sub-categories inside it. Faded bars are part-years with fewer than four quarters of data.

This is offered entirely 'as is' and with goodwill. Please contact us immediately if you have any issues.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.