Wells’ Adelaide meeting claim questioned over missing ministerial diary entry
Communications Minister Anika Wells’ account of a meeting used to justify staying overnight in Adelaide has come under renewed scrutiny after another minister’s released diary did not name her. Wells told the expenses authority that she met South Australian Health Minister Chris Picton at a birthday party in June 2025; both ministers’ offices maintain the meeting took place and say her name was removed from personal diary records.
Wells’ Adelaide trip cost $3,681 and ran from 6 to 8 June, including a school visit and a meeting with Trade Minister Don Farrell. She said a planned daytime meeting with Picton was delayed and moved to the evening event, ending at 7.45pm; the authority accepted this as a reasonable basis for her overnight stay. The diary records personal affairs from 5pm and a redacted personal entry from 3pm, while listing a media appearance as Picton’s public engagement. A separate audit found $8,092.89 in inappropriate travel and hire-car claims, plus a $2,023.22 penalty loading.
- Picton’s released diary does not name Wells or their alleged meeting.
- Both ministers’ offices say the meeting took place at a birthday party.
- An expenses audit found more than $10,000 for Wells to repay.
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Anika Wells, the federal Communications Minister, travelled to Adelaide in June 2025 for two days at a cost of $3,681. She stayed overnight and justified the expense by saying she needed to meet Chris Picton, the South Australian Health Minister, at a birthday party that evening.
The expenses authority accepted this explanation at the time. However, when Picton's diary was released, it did not record Wells as being present at the event, raising questions about whether the meeting took place. Both ministers' offices have since said the meeting did occur and that Wells' name was removed from Picton's personal diary records.
The incident matters because it touches on how government ministers account for taxpayer-funded travel expenses. A separate audit has already identified nearly $8,093 in inappropriate travel and hire-car claims linked to Wells, which raises broader questions about expense oversight.
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The case for
Both ministers have confirmed the meeting occurred, and the expenses authority has already reviewed and accepted the justification as reasonable. When government records are released, personal diary entries are routinely redacted for privacy protection, so the absence of Wells' name does not undermine the substance of her account. The trip included other legitimate ministerial activities, and questioning the claim based on standard diary redactions sets an impractical standard for expense verification.
The case against
When a minister claims overnight ministerial travel costing thousands of pounds is justified by a specific meeting, that meeting's absence from the other minister's diary entry is noteworthy and warrants scrutiny. The explanation that her name was selectively removed from personal records is convenient but difficult to verify independently, and stricter corroboration standards are appropriate for public expenses. The separate audit identifying significant inappropriate claims suggests closer examination of Wells' travel justifications is warranted.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Meeting used to justify Anika Wells’ taxpayer-funded Adelaide trip not recorded in other minister’s diary”.