STATE Government Minister Stephan Knoll incorrectly claimed expenses for staying in Adelaide while billing taxpayers $623.97 for a trip to Mount Gambier in May 2019, documents reveal.
ABC News has revealed Mr Knoll claimed the $234-per-night payment on May 8, 2019 claiming he was in Adelaide when he was in Mount Gambier.
Documents showed taxpayers met the cost of Mr Knoll’s accommodation while in Mount Gambier – at $201 – along with $369 for a flight, as well as incorrectly claiming the Country Members Allowance.
Mr Knoll’s office said it was an “administrative error” which has been rectified and repaid.
The Transport Minister has been forced to repay nearly $30,000 he claimed as part of the accommodation allowance over the past year and a half.
Regional MPs are eligible to receive an allowance for travelling to and from Adelaide for parliamentary and other duties if the member’s usual place of residence is more than 75km from Adelaide’s General Post Office.
Eligible parliamentarians are able to claim $234 for each night they stay in Adelaide, capped at $31,590 per year.
Mr Knoll is among three country Liberal MPs – along with Minister Tim Whetsone and freshman MP Fraser Ellis – who have agreed to pay back accommodation allowance money.
South Australia Labor Government Accountability spokesperson Tom Koutsantonis, who attempted to move a confidence of no motion in Mr Knoll and Mr Whetstone in Thursday’s sitting of parliament, said workers in any other industry would lose their job for incorrectly claiming the payments.
In a rare public statement released yesterday, Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander said he would make further enquiries of all claims for the accommodation allowance over the last 10 years.
Mr Lander said the investigation would be conducted in private as was required by legislation and he did not intend to make further comment.
