Anthony Albanese has responded after it emerged that the Prime Minister had incurred $3.8 million in expenses in one year.
The staggering sum was revealed after analysis of the latest data from the independent parliamentary expenses authority.
The Daily Telegraph reported that $3.8 million of taxpayers’ money had been spent on staff, travel and office costs in the year to the end of June.
About $2.5 million was spent on travel expenses for its 61 staff, $102,000 on Comcars, $896,000 on international travel and $253,000 on printing and communications.
The revelation came after Albanese acknowledged that many Australians are struggling during the cost of living crisis.
The Prime Minister was asked about the spending at a press conference in Perth on Wednesday and said the data was coming out “like clockwork”.
“If they think the Prime Minister of Australia should drive around himself, then they should say so,” he said.
‘In today’s world we need security and these things need to happen and I think Australians realise that.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his taxpayer-funded spending bill, which has ballooned to more than $3.8 million in the past year, saying he would ‘much rather drive myself’
“I believe that we should keep expenditure to a minimum wherever possible.”
Brian Marlow, chairman of the Australian Taxpayers Alliance, disagreed with the major expenses report.
“When the prime minister says we are all struggling… he means everyone except him and his staff,” he said.
“The private sector is in decline. If you look at what the prime minister says versus what he does, it doesn’t pass the pub test anymore.”
Mr Albanese’s office said “all expenditure is in accordance with the relevant rules and guidelines of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority”.
The prime minister was responding to a question from journalists on Tuesday about whether the cost of living crisis is as bad today as it was in the 1960s.
Mr Albanese replied that growing up in social housing with a single mother in the 1960s was ‘quite tough’.
“People who are struggling are struggling and deserve respect. And they deserve respect, more than games. I get that people are struggling,” he said.
‘Throughout our history there have been people in the community from time to time who have really struggled, and my thoughts are with them.
‘Like other politicians, and dare I say it, as senior journalists, we are in a privileged position. We accept that.
The revelations about his spending came after Mr Albanese showed sympathy for struggling Australians
‘I grew up in a family where every dollar counted. A mother on disability was struggling every two weeks to make ends meet and survive.
“I know how hard it is to do it.”
Despite now earning a salary of just under $600,000, Albanese says he is still approachable and is in regular contact with Australians “every day”.
“I walk through supermarkets, I walk through shopping malls and that’s one way I stay informed about the concerns that are out there,” he said.
“And I know people are having a hard time.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton spent $2.8 million in the same 12-month period.