Albanese government accused of ‘secrecy by stealth’ after key details removed from report on MPs’ expenses

Expense report, which previously included itemised spending, now has almost zero detail on how money actually spent in each category

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Anthony Albanese’s government has been accused of a lack of transparency after the much-delayed release of a report on politicians’ expenses was changed to strip out key details on what federal MPs billed to taxpayers on junk mail and online advertising.

Expense reports, which were previously presented with itemised spending on newspaper subscriptions, books and printing have been summarised to now only give an aggregated total, with almost zero detail on how money is actually spent in each category.