It's not cheap running the state.
The latest expense reports, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, reveal MPs spent close to $2.2 million in expenses between July 2013 and July 2014.
That takes into account money spent on daily travelling allowance claims, electorate allowance expenditure, general travel allocation expenditure, the information and communication allowance and air warrant and alternative travel for regional and rural MPs.
The information and communication allowance racked up the biggest bill, accounting for $867,314.60 of the total.
Under the new allowance system established by the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal in August last year, that money, about $16,860 per MP for the first half of the year, can be used "for the purpose of obtaining information and disseminating information to constituents that is relevant to fulfilling parliamentary and constituent responsibilities".
It can also be used to "meet the cost of incidental matters relating to operating the Member's electorate office".
It cannot be used for private or commercial activities, electioneering or campaigning or political party activity.
Most MPs spent up to their limit, except for LNP Waterford MP Michael Latter, who only spent $7142.
The tyranny of distance, as Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney often refers to it, didn't help Queensland's bottom line – the "air warrant and alternative travel" allowance, granted to MPs representing regional seats to help them travel from their electorates to Brisbane for parliamentary business, topped $133,729 between January 1 and June 30 this year.
That allowance, which is available to 24 of the state's 89 MPs, allows members to make alternative travel arrangements, such as charter flights or private aircraft, if a suitable commercial airline flight is not available.
Labor MP Tim Mulherin, who represents the electorate of Mackay, was entitled to the allowance but did not need to use it, while Katter's Australian Party MP Robbie Katter spent $11,048 travelling between Brisbane and his electorate of Mt Isa, mostly for parliamentary sittings.
MPs spent just under $747,000 of their electoral allowance - which covers "a range of expenditure in providing constituent assistance and service for the electorate" - in the first half of this year.
Like the information and communication allowance, it cannot be used for electioneering, campaigning, private, commercial purposes, or for political party activity.
The amount available to MPs differed according to which band their electorate fell in, with the yearly allowance ranging from $27,500 to $34,000.
Whitsunday LNP MP Jason Costigan spent just $4014 of the $14,876.71 available to his electorate for the first half of the year, which will see a reduction in his future payment of $9375.
Members who spent more than their allotted allowance covered those costs out of their own pocket.
The general travel allowance for the first six months of the year hit just over $308,000. That money goes towards "a range of travel expenses incurred by members " – and in some cases, their spouses – "when the member is required to travel in order to conduct parliamentary business".
Parliamentary business must be the primary purpose of the trip and the allowance is predetermined and managed by the Clerk. Over-expenditure is covered by the parliamentarian.
Travelling around western Queensland centres, regional LNP MP Vaughan Johnson spent $16,315 on airfares and $9900 of his travel allowance. His car hire bill was another $1057.31, and he spent $1898 on taxis.
A further $4515 was granted to Mr Johnson for overnight stays in Brisbane while on parliamentary business.
Under the former daily travelling allowance, which was scrapped by the remuneration tribunal in favour of the general travel allowance, just under $142,500 was spent between July 1 and December 31 last year.
Morayfield LNP MP Darren Grimwade spent $17,238 in travel allowance, airfares and hire cars, having headed to Perth, Cairns and Gladstone on parliamentary committee business to address seminars and for "studies, investigations, or inquiries" related to his duties and responsibilities as a MP.
Howard Hobbs, the Warrego LNP MP, spent $15,610 on mostly the same business.
Former parliamentarians using their travel benefits cost the state $290,623 (on top of the $2.2 million in current allowance expenditure) between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. Former Labor police minister Judy Spence spent $10,195 in entitlements, while Henry Palaszczuk spent $10,728.
On Tuesday, the tribunal announced changes to the travel entitlements available to former MPs. All commercial air travel and rail travel entitlements must be claimed by December 31 2018, with no further entitlements provided or claimable after that date.
The tribunal changed the number of allowances available to MPs when it handed them a 9 per cent pay rise in October last year, taking a politician's base salary to $148,848, taking their allowances from 30 to just three - travel, information and communication and electoral.
It also altered how allowances were calculated, basing the allowances on a formula of 60 cents per head of population, plus 1.5 cents per square kilometre for each electorate. Members are now required to keep receipts and acquit their spending to the parliamentary clerk every six months.
The next report is due at the end of the year.
