People might be surprised at how much it costs to move our politicians around the country. That said, 76 flights in 15 months at an average of $1k a pop does indeed sound excessive. And that was up to July - before all the Voice stuff took off.

Her predecessor, Sam McMahon, was frequently parliament’s biggest spender on travel and accommodation. But not even McMahon, who racked up about $18,000 worth of airline bills in her last nine months as a senator (the only data still publicly available) flew at the rate Price did.

That gives us a baseline to compare. Sam McMahon spent about $2k a month on flights and was about the biggest spender on travel. Jacinta Price is spending about $5,100 a month. It’s probably worth putting a cap on politician travel allowances. I’m doubtful that all of those 76 flights were strictly necessary. But I’m not too scandalised at this point.

Bronwyn Bishop spent $5k on a single chartered helicopter to fly her 80km after all (she had to pay that back after a few eyebrows were raised).

Considering they’re based in Alice Springs and it’s 76 flights for work and campaigning, that’s actually a really good deal. I fly a lot for work and it gets expensive really fast when booking flights a day out or having to cover a bunch of rural areas, not just the main cities. Not to mention getting in and out of Canberra is some times double Sydney.