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Latest data · Jan–Mar 2026
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Parliamentarian profile · Jan–Mar 2026

James Paterson

LiberalVIC

Claimed in Jan-Mar 2026

$128,951

0.9× medianmedian MP $142,411 in Jan-Mar 2026

Of which $96,470 was discretionary (excludes Office Facilities). Repaid to the public purse this quarter: $0 · lifetime repaid $3,618.

Lifetime claimed since Apr-Jun 2023: $3.7 million across 12 quarters.

Quarterly trend

2023Q02 → 2026Q01

What was claimed, by category

Categories in Jan–Mar 2026, ranked by amount.

  1. Employee Travel
    $51,913
  2. Office Facilities
    $32,481
  3. Scheduled Commercial Transport
    $13,181
  4. Other Car Costs
    $11,502
  5. Office Administration
    $9,949
  6. Travel Allowance
    $8,944
  7. Telecommunications
    $980

Largest individual claims this quarter

  1. Aggregated Total
    Employee Travel
    $51,913.22
  2. Aggregated Total
    Office Facilities
    $32,481.48
  3. Printing and Communications 2 Mar 26
    Office Administration
    $3,500.70
  4. Printing and Communications 5 Feb 26
    Office Administration
    $1,667.50
  5. Parliamentary Duties
    Travel Allowance · 2026-02-08
    $1,610.00
  6. Melbourne to Brisbane 23 Feb 26
    Scheduled Commercial Transport · Melbourne → Brisbane
    $1,600.67
  7. Parliamentary Duties
    Travel Allowance · 2026-03-01
    $1,288.00
  8. Parliamentary Duties
    Travel Allowance · 2026-03-22
    $1,288.00
  9. Sydney to Melbourne 17 Dec 25
    Scheduled Commercial Transport · Sydney → Melbourne
    $1,252.95
  10. Brisbane to Sydney 23 Feb 26
    Scheduled Commercial Transport · Brisbane → Sydney
    $1,218.62

Sources

  • Headline, category breakdown, and largest claims: IPEA quarterly expenditure report, 2026Q01 — sourced from data.gov.au/data/organization/ipea.
  • Trend line: same source across 12 quarters (2023Q02 → 2026Q01). Median-MP comparison computed across all parliamentarians active in each quarter.
  • Identity: party, state, electorate, and role are read directly from the source CSV. From 2022Q03 onwards, MPs are tracked by a stable IPEA OfficeCode; earlier rows match by name.
  • Repayments sourced from the IPEA quarterly repayments CSV (available from 2022Q03 onwards). They are reported as a separate line, not netted off the gross total — ReportingPeriodId on a repayment marks when the money was paid back, not when the original claim was made. Adjustments are still not integrated. See methodology for the full list of caveats.