The Liberal National party senator Matt Canavan billed taxpayers thousands of dollars to fly with his family for a three-night trip to Brisbane, during which he headlined Christmas drinks for a controversial conservative group that planned to donate part of the night’s proceeds to him.
Data released by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) on Friday shows Canavan and six family members travelled to Brisbane from Rockhampton in mid-November last year, costing taxpayers $3,676 in flights and unscheduled transport.
Canavan says he was in Brisbane for legitimate parliamentary business, including for debates and community meetings, and to make a formal speech to the Australian Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, Christmas drinks event.
Their trip coincided with the anti-vaccine mandate “freedom rally” in Brisbane on 20 November, but Canavan’s office told the Guardian neither he nor his family attended.
Instead, his office said, Canavan was in Brisbane for a series of other events, including a debate and a community meeting on the Gold Coast.
“Senator Canavan’s travel was for the purpose of his parliamentary business,” a spokesperson said. “Senator Canavan did not attend the freedom rally on 20 November. However, Senator Canavan had a busy schedule over this period attending a debate organised by the Australian Taxpayers Alliance, a community meeting on the Gold Coast, several meetings in Brisbane and was the guest speaker at the CPAC Christmas Party.”
The Guardian is not suggesting Canavan wrongly claimed or misused his expense entitlements. The test Ipea uses is that the dominant purpose of an MP’s trip must be parliamentary or electorate business, and Canavan had legitimate parliamentary business in Brisbane.
The CPAC event was ticketed, with Canavan as the headline speaker. About 20 paying VIP guests were entitled to a small “private dinner” with Canavan.
“General Admission includes hearing Senator Matthew Canavan off the leash to a room of conservatives, as well as canapes and drinks, and a great night of relaxed networking with like-minded friends,” a promotional post on CPAC’s LinkedIn account said.
“As always there is a very limited number of VIP tickets which include not only everything in the General Admission, but also reserved priority seating during the main event and a private dinner for just 20 people with our guest speaker.
“A donation will be made to the speaker from the evening’s proceeds.”
Canavan’s office initially told the Guardian neither he nor the LNP received any donations associated with the event.
“The CPAC event was not a fundraiser for the LNP and no donations were received by Senator Canavan or the LNP from this event,” a spokesperson said.
After being shown the CPAC LinkedIn post, the senator’s office made inquiries with the LNP to see whether a donation was in fact received.
His spokesman subsequently said: “Senator Canavan had no expectation of receiving a donation from this event, and neither Senator Canavan, nor the LNP, has a record of donations from this event.”
Canavan’s spokesperson said the senator’s family did not attend the event.
CPAC is backed by the powerful American Conservative Union, and has been held in the US since 1974, when former US president Ronald Reagan gave the inaugural keynote speech.
Organisers brought the conference to Australia in 2019, only its second such foray outside the US, promising it would “not be a one-off”.
At the time, Labor described the event in parliament as a “talkfest of hate” and pushed for the government to block the visa of one of its speakers, former Breitbart editor Raheem Kassam.
