Former NT CLP senator Sam McMahon charged taxpayers to travel around Queensland for two weeks in June 2021 because she and her staffer Ashley Manicaros did not want to face a 14-day COVID quarantine if they returned to the Northern Territory, according to documents filed by a federal parliamentary body that is seeking to recoup the funds through the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The caper saw the pair spend more than two weeks “constant[ly] monitoring” for outbreak areas across Queensland, which required “being prepared to move quickly if it looked like an area was likely to go into quarantine” and necessitated “a couple” of location moves, Ms McMahon explained in the court documents.

The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority investigated the expense claims and ruled they were in breach of parliamentary guidelines and has now taken the unusual step of pursuing repayment of the roughly $4,000 through the NTCAT.

The travel occurred between June 29, 2021 and July 15, 2021, with the agency finding the former senator was “unjustly enriched at the expense” of taxpayers, while determining the purpose of the trip was to “avoid quarantine requirements in the Northern Territory and within Queensland”.

The NTCAT documents show Ms McMahon and Mr Manicaros initially travelled to Brisbane on June 27, 2021 to fly to Norfolk Island for a Senate committee hearing, but the Norfolk leg was cancelled at the last minute due to COVID concerns.

Instead of rebooking to Darwin, Ms McMahon and Mr Manicaros stayed in Brisbane for a couple of nights, although there was no official business planned. Two days later, on June 29, the NT Government declared Brisbane a COVID hotspot, requiring anyone travelling from the destination to enter mandatory 14-day quarantine at Howard Springs.

Ms McMahon claimed in her statement to the tribunal that she intended to return to Darwin on June 29, but did not want to quarantine and instead believed she “needed to remain out of any other hotspot areas” for two weeks before returning to the Territory.

“I attempted to find areas that were outside areas of outbreaks but close enough to an airport to be able to return home quickly if quarantine was lifted,” she wrote.

“This required constant monitoring and being prepared to move quickly if it looked like an area was likely to go into quarantine. This is why I relocated a couple of times.”

She added that Mr Manicaros eventually grew tired of all the running around and determined he would face the music back in the NT, as he was running out of money.

“My staff member who was travelling with me finally decided to return to the NT as he did not have the funds to stay in QLD any longer and he was placed into mandatory quarantine,” she said.

It was unclear on which date Mr Manicaros parted ways with the then-senator, but Ms McMahon said she continued on the journey alone after he left. She also stated that her staffer’s expenses for the trip were “processed and never questioned”.

The trip to Brisbane came just one day after Ms McMahon had lost preselection for the CLP, with Jacinta Price securing the party’s first senate spot on June 26, 2021. The voyage also came just days after Ms McMahon had been accused by colleagues and other politicians of being drunk in the Senate, which she denied and claimed was a medical episode.

Ms McMahon remained in the Senate, sitting as an independent before seeking re-election as the Liberal Democrats candidate, a minor party led by former Queensland premier Campbell Newman. She was defeated at the 2022 federal election.

‘Unjustly enriched’: McMahon breached parliamentary rules, failed to provide information about trip, parliamentary authority alleges

The federal expenses authority is seeking the $3,700 in expenses claimed for the Queensland voyage to be repaid, as well as filing costs associated with pursuing the matter.

The committee has alleged Ms McMahon also breached parliamentary rules by “fail[ing] to respond within a timely manner” when it first requested information about the nature of the trip.

Following an investigation, the IPEA ruled that “various travel expenses and/or travel allowances…had not been incurred in accordance with [the Act]” and that the Queensland trip was undertaken to “avoid quarantine” and “was not parliamentary business”.

“Despite demand, the respondent [Ms McMahon] failed, refused and/or neglected to repay…the sum of $3,720 or any part thereof…” the documents state.

“[The committee] says that the respondent has been unjustly enriched at the expense of the applicant and the respondent is obliged to compensate the applicant…”

Ms McMahon argued she was provided advice that she could claim travel expenses if she was unable to return home due to COVID restrictions.

She also wrote that she was technically on parliamentary business when she flew to Brisbane for the Norfolk Island trip and that over the next two weeks – while dodging COVID hotspots – she had “continued to conduct my parliamentary business whist (sic) staying in QLD, maintaining phone contact with my office and constituents, reading emails and documents and preparing for the next sitting dates”.

Friday’s direction hearing at NTCAT resulted in the matter being held over until December, to provide more time for Ms McMahon to file additional evidence and witness statements. She indicated she would defend the claims.

Ms McMahon told the NT Independent later that she felt she has “thoroughly addressed all questions related to the travel and was entitled to make the claims I made”.

Mr Manicaros refused to answer questions, instead sending an email with a derogatory slur in it.