Linda Reynolds repays nearly $9,000 after partner billed taxpayers to visit son in Melbourne

Former Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has paid back nearly $8,800 in parliamentary expenses after her partner claimed family reunion allowances to visit his son in Melbourne while en route to meet her in Canberra. Reynolds accepted the ruling of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) but initially disputed their ruling, saying her partner’s visits to his son – her stepson – were necessary after “high profile (and false) 2021 workplace allegations made against me”, seemingly a reference to her long-running court dispute with former staffer Brittany Higgins. The IPEA, which administers the use of political spending and travel, last week published a number of recent reviews into parliamentarians’ expenses. Labor MP Louise Miller-Frost repaid more than $4,100 after travelling to Perth with her husband several days before a committee hearing, while Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price repaid $387 after blaming an “oversight” for claiming an extra day of travel allowance. Reynolds, a former defence minister who left parliament at the May 2025 federal election, was required to repay $8,778.01 after three trips her partner took between Perth, Melbourne and Canberra in May and June 2025. In a statement to Guardian Australia, Reynolds said she repaid the amount, which included a 25% penalty loading. “At the time of undertaking the travel I believed it was within the rules. IPEA took a different view which I accept,” she said. …