Bev McArthur has been a Liberal MP in the Victorian Legislative Council (the upper house) since 2018. In 2025, she spent just under $8,000 in public funds to fly to Europe on “electorate business”.
Zoom in: McArthur, who is leading the Liberal ticket in Western Victoria for the November 28 election, has said the travel costs were related to formal business and no taxpayer funding was used on personal travel. Her travel report states she did not claim accommodation and lists business on three days of the 31 day trip.
Recently: In October, a Victorian member of the public made a complaint to Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC). Any member of the public can make a complaint to IBAC.
That same month, legislation took effect that broadened the definition of corrupt conduct IBAC can investigate, including “follow-the-money” powers that trace public funds.
Image: Liberal MP, Bev McArthur
The meetings: While in Europe, McArthur listed five meetings in her parliamentary travel report, with one being cancelled upon a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle in the UK.
McArthur listed the overarching reasoning of the trip as engagement with “UK parliamentarians, European educators, and industry leaders on local government, gender and women’s rights policy, international energy markets, and Indigenous education.”
McArthur’s report said she met with:
British author Helen Joyce, Conservative peer Baroness Anne Jenkin and Conservative MP Rebecca Paul, who have argued for women’s rights to be based on biological sex, to discuss gender policy. McArthur met Joyce twice, once alone and once with Jenkin and Paul at the House of Lords;
Shell executive Kelli How, who holds the title of Vice-President LNG Portfolio and Growth, to discuss energy markets;
Conservative UK MP Stephen Barclay, a former UK Environment Secretary (a portfolio that includes farming), to discuss local government and regional development;
and Jimmy Hymøller, a Danish teacher and former headmaster, in the village of Itilleq in Greenland, to discuss Indigenous education.
The claim: Victorian resident Aaron Smith lodged a complaint with IBAC in October regarding the 2025 trip. His complaint focuses on her meeting with Hymøller, which he alleges took place during an Arctic cruise. McArthur’s travel report describes it as a visit to the local school in Itilleq, Greenland.
“I thought that seemed odd, given her presentation of the meeting” Smith told the Brolga. “How could it come to be that a Victorian MP for the Western region decided it was a good idea to meet an education consultant ostensibly in Greenland?”
Smith said the title McArthur’ gave Hymøller in her travel report, “Education Consultant, Government of Greenland”, did not “match how he’s presented on the cruise website”. The website of cruise operator HX advertises a shore excursion to Itilleq where visitors hear Hymøller’s “personal take on Greenlandic life, traditions, and wildlife”. Smith described him as “essentially a tour guide at a stop” on the trip.
What she said: McArthur told the Herald Sun in February “the travel costs incurred related to formal business and have been disclosed in line with relevant Members of Parliament travel guidelines. No taxpayer money has been spent in relation to personal travel.”
McArthur did not respond to the Brolga’s multiple requests for comment.
What are the rules anyway? The Victorian Government has several guidelines for all Members of Parliament.
These guidelines define electorate business as “in the Member’s capacity as their constituents elected representative”, and includes:
Providing advice or information to constituents;
Attending a meeting with constituents;
Undertaking research;
Representing the views and interests of constituents;
Participation in official and community activities to which the Member is invited;
Providing constituent assistance and service.
Under these same guidelines, MPs “may claim international travel allowance for travel costs and transport costs actually incurred to perform their public duties outside of Australia”.
What next? A referral is not an investigation or a finding.
If evidence of corruption is found, IBAC are able to refer matters to another entity, make recommendations to an “organisation’s relevant principal officer, the responsible Minister or the Premier and request a response”, or publish public reports with key risk and prevention resources.
If no wrongdoing is found, IBAC may still recommend preventative action if systemic corruption risks are identified.
Header Image: IBAC