Andrew Laming yet to fully repay taxpayers for family trips

Controversial former Liberal MP Dr Andrew Laming had repaid less than half of the cost of four interstate family trips he charged to taxpayers during his time in parliament as of the latest available data, and neither he nor the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) will say if or when he will pay his reported remaining debt of $11,147.

The latest repayment data from the authority shows that as of March 31 this year, Laming had repaid $7,341 of $10,360 he owes the IPEA for several ineligible trips taken in June 2019. He is also yet to reimburse the authority $8,128 for trips the Laming family took on the public purse in April 2022, according to the latest data.

The IPEA issued Laming with invoices for the trips three years ago on 30-day payment terms.

Taxpayer-funded holidays claimed as parliamentary business

As first reported in The Guardianin June 2019 Laming took his partner and their two children on a trip from their home in Brisbane to Hobart, with the ophthalmologist stating it was “legitimate parliamentary travel” because he attended a medical conference.

An IPEA audit in March 2022 concluded the conference was not the “dominant purpose” of the trip after discovering organisers hadn’t invited Laming and didn’t know he was attending until shortly before the conference started. In turn, this invalidated the “family reunion purposes” of Laming’s family travel claims.

Laming and his partner took a second trip that month from Brisbane to Melbourne, which he said was parliamentary business because he attended a horticultural industry conference and planned to create a “food hub” in his electorate. He charged taxpayers for the cost of his return flights and taxis, along with his partner’s flight back to Brisbane. The IPEA audit found the claims to be invalid as Laming only attended the conference for the dinner (and only for one hour at that) on the last day. Asked about his attendance at the dinner, Laming told Ipea: “The parliamentary grounds for travel to Melbourne was to attend the conclusion of the Gala dinner where all relevant stakeholders would be assembled. This was by arrangement with a Queensland sponsor at a time when formal award presentations had concluded that evening.”

In April 2022, Laming claimed the cost of two family trips to Sydney and Melbourne, arguing he was on parliamentary business because he attended medical society meetings and a regional communities event.  After he repeatedly refused to provide evidence to show the events were the dominant purpose of his travels, they invoiced him in August for repayment.

By this point, Laming’s total debts to the IPEA stood at $18,488.

Laming refuses to pay, lawyers at ten paces

Laming dug in, labelling the audit a “witch hunt” and saying he wouldn’t pay the invoice for the 2019 trips. He described the IPEA’s requirement for evidence to justify his 2022 trips as an attempt to bully him, and said he wouldn’t provide supporting documentation until the audit had “survived external appeal” by the Commonwealth ombudsman.

The IPEA took Laming to the magistrates court, and, according to The Guardian, he agreed in July 2023 to start repaying his debts, beginning with a $5,000 payment around August. Repayment data shows he repaid $2,710 in August.

This agreement appears to have been short-lived because the same month, Laming sought a judicial review of the audit. This went nowhere, with the Federal Court dismissing the case in March 2024.

Repayments recommence slowly

Three months later, in June 2024, Laming paid $242.10 to the IPEA to repay Cabcharges on the 2019 trips. In August, he made a partial repayment of $1,979 for the recovery of an airfare and hire car costs, and in October, another $1,500 for airfares. Laming’s last known repayment was in January 2025 for $909.

IPEA repayment data for April-June 2025 is not available yet, so it’s likely that Laming’s debt sits below $11,147. It’s also possible he has begun to pay off the 2022 trips. The IPEA wouldn’t tell Crikey what Laming still owes them as of July, citing privacy reasons, but they did say his invoices have not been paid. We repeatedly sought comment from Laming about how much he owes and when he plans to repay. He did not provide a response.