# Labor minister Anika Wells confirms she will attend this years’ AFL Grand Final after her expenses scandal rocked the Albanese government

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/labor-minister-anika-wells-confirms-she-will-attend-this-years-afl-grand-final-after-her-expenses-scandal-rocked-the-albanese-government/
- Published: 2026-09-13T10:07:34+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-13T10:17:39+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16127335/anika-wells-expenses-afl-grand-final-new-york.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- Wells confirms AFL Grand Final attendance despite expenses scandal
- She repaid 10,000 Australian dollars after breaching travel rules
- Wells was excluded from this year's UN delegation to New York

## Summary

Australian Communications and Sports Minister Anika Wells has confirmed she will attend this year's AFL Grand Final, despite an expenses scandal that saw her ordered to repay taxpayer-funded travel costs. Speaking on ABC's Insiders, Wells defended her attendance at major sporting fixtures, arguing they are essential opportunities to meet stakeholders from the sport and broadcasting industries, regardless of whether her home team, the Brisbane Lions, qualifies for the decider.

The minister was ordered to repay 10,000 Australian dollars after a parliamentary watchdog found she had breached family travel rules, including covering a flight home from the 2025 Grand Final for her lobbyist husband and a family ski trip to Thredbo billed as work travel. Her public appearances at sporting events had dropped off since the scandal broke last December but have recently resumed, even as scrutiny persists after she was excluded from the government's delegation to this year's UN General Assembly in New York, a trip that cost taxpayers almost 100,000 Australian dollars in 2025.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.