Federal politicians have revealed ownership of gold bullion and race horses, overseas properties and some notable gifts, with members of the new parliament declaring a diverse range of interests, assets and living situations.
Parliamentarians are obliged to give a full account of their financial and pecuniary interests upon election. The parliamentary register of interests always gives a great insight into the personal lives of our politicians (and occasionally uncovers a scandal).
Months on from the May election, almost all of parliament has lodged their forms online. As the 48th parliament begins, we take you through some of the most notable items to come to light.
Prized possessions
The register asks MPs to declare ownership of assets valued at over $7,500. Many disclose ordinary possessions such as the family car – with homes and gifts disclosed in a separate section – but others have more unusual assets.
Those close to the new shadow environment minister, Angie Bell, know she loves art and music, and the former professional musician has declared her saxophone.
Several parliamentarians including Liberal MP Dan Tehan and Labor senator Helen Polley have declared part-ownership of racehorses; Tehan has also declared “occasional earnings from racehorses”. Hunter MP and former Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi declared a racehorse in his interests in the 47th parliament, but that has disappeared this time around.
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Liberal MP Terry Young has declared sporting memorabilia that makes the threshold, as well as an undisclosed amount of gold bullion held in a self-managed super fund.
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, has meanwhile declared her spouse as the part-owner of a vintage car. Liberal MP Tony Wood has declared some antique furniture.
Nationals MP turned independent Andrew Gee has declared a caravan (perhaps to be enjoyed more after his political career), along with a mention of “precious metals”.
Hecs debts
Just 1.8% of the parliament’s 226 MPs and senators have declared a Hecs debt, compared with 11% of Australian adults.
Labor’s newest Victorian MPs, Matt Greg and Gabriel Ng, both of whom unseated Coalition members, have declared university debts; so has their Senate colleague Charlotte Walker, the parliament’s youngest member at 21 years of age.
Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May has also declared a Hecs debt.
They might expect to benefit from the 20% one-off cut to their debts, passed through parliament last month.
Shares and land
Having been promoted to the assistant ministry, Andrew Charlton has had to let go of his entire share portfolio.
With those shares previously controlled by a blind trust, we were on the lookout for how soon they would be dropped after the promotion. Charlton has deleted all 25 shareholdings in his portfolio from his register, while his partner has deleted all but two. One of the shares she continues to hold is the law chamber where she is also a director.
Labor MP Sally Sitou, whom the Australian Financial Review previously named as one of the best stock pickers in parliament, declared a share portfolio as well as ownership of Ripple (a form of cryptocurrency) and some gold bullion.
While plenty of politicians have multiple properties, and even multiple investment properties, a handful also have properties overseas.
Cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek, whose parents are Slovenian, owns an investment property in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Labor MP Sam Lim has declared a family home in Johor, Malaysia. Another Labor MP, South Australia’s Steve Georganas, has declared ownership of a block of residential land and a block of farm land containing an olive grove in Greece, both of which he inherited, while his wife owns an apartment in Athens.
Liberal MP Andrew Wallace’s spouse owns an investment property which doubles as a holiday home in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, and has declared income from the property. A four-hour drive west of Vancouver, it’s in wine and orchard country.
First Nations members Malarndirri McCarthy, Marion Scrymgour and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price have all listed land or land claims where they are traditional owners.
McCarthy, the minister for Indigenous Australians, has declared herself a traditional owner in six land claims, while Scrymgour is a traditional land owner from the Miyartuwi Skin group on the Tiwi Islands. Liberal senator Nampijinpa Price is a traditional owner within the Janganpa Land Trust.
Side hustles, hobbies and gifts
Nampijinpa Price is also one of three politicians to declare earnings from sales of novels they’ve penned.
She declared that earnings for her memoir, Matters of the Heart, are handled by a discretionary trust.
Prolific writer (and runner) Andrew Leigh declared earnings from his many books, most of which are economics-related. Anne Aly, the first Muslim woman in cabinet and a former counter-terrorism expert, declared “lending rights from books previously authored”.
Nationals senators Ross Cadell and Bridget McKenzie were both given copies of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard’s book The Way To Happiness by the Canberra chapter of the Way To Happiness society.
Speaking of societies: new Labor MP Rowan Holzberger has listed himself as the patron for the Australian Budgerigar Society and the Australian Native Orchid Society’s Beenleigh chapter.
And back to McKenzie: the avid firearms enthusiast has declared her membership of several gun clubs including the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia, Field & Game Australia, the Deer Stalkers Club, the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia and the Australian Deer Association.
Other parliamentarians have declared diverse business interests.
Rising Labor senator Jana Stewart has disclosed that she is the director of a fashion label startup called Frankly Blak.
New One Nation senator Tyron Whitten has declared his directorship of an investment vehicle known as the Hillbilly Oysters Family Trust.
Liberal MP Scott Buchholz noted he is the director of a cattle company and a sole trader of a farming operation, and that his wife is an “Airbnb host”.
