MP claims Melbourne property allowance despite attendance concerns

A Geelong-region state MP has claimed more than $60,000 in taxpayer-funded allowances for a second home in Melbourne since early 2024, despite appearing to miss 70 per cent of all parliamentary sitting days.

South Barwon MP Darren Cheeseman was pushed out of the Labor Party in April 2024 following "allegations of persistent, inappropriate behaviour" towards staff, after which he remained in parliament as an independent.

Since then, he has collected more than $60,000 via the Parliamentary Accommodation Sitting Allowance (PASA), despite persistent concerns over his attendance at parliament.

The PASA assists regional MPs living more than 80km from Melbourne to maintain a second home in the city "to help them carry out their public duties while in Melbourne".

The most current MP Allowance reporting shows Mr Cheeseman claimed almost $30,000 last financial year under the PASA, despite appearing to have missed 29 of the 42 parliamentary sitting days.

The extent to which Mr Cheeseman carried out his public duties in Melbourne since moving to the crossbench are unclear.

The MP declined to respond to questions from the ABC.

Constituents in the dark

There is no publicly available reporting of MPs' attendance in Victorian Parliament.

Tracking MP contributions, such as votes, speeches or questions, via Hansard is the closest the public can come to seeing if their representatives are turning up, particularly if the MP has no online presence.

Of the 39 sitting days in 2026, Mr Cheeseman appears in Hansard on just eight occasions — a contribution rate of 20 per cent. He does not appear in Hansard in the final eight sitting days of this year.

During 2025-26 when Mr Cheeseman claimed $28,102.01 via the PASA — near the maximum available — he appears in Hansard on just 13 of the 42 sitting days.

Mr Cheeseman's absence from Hansard records was not always the case.

As a Labor MP his contribution rate was 87.7 per cent, but since leaving the party he appears in just 39 of a possible 127 parliamentary sitting days, a rate of 30.7 per cent.

In that time he has collected about $510,000 in salary payments as an independent MP, and claimed $62,714.09 via the PASA, with six months of allowance records yet to be published.

For MPs in the Legislative Assembly, attendance at parliament is more of a trust system than a set of strict requirements. An MP must attend just one sitting day during their four-year term, but all absences of nine or more consecutive sitting days need to be explained to the Speaker of the house.

An absence from the Hansard, however, does not necessarily mean an MP did not attend Parliament.

The four local MPs surrounding Mr Cheeseman's electorate were absent from Hansard between one and five sitting days this year. But Lara Labor MP Ella George, who was missing from Hansard on five days, confirmed she was in attendance every sitting day this year.

"As well as debating and voting on legislation, there's other meaningful work that goes on behind the scenes during a parliament sitting week," Ms George said.

Mr Cheeseman's apparent absenteeism has revealed a transparency gap for the Victorian parliament.

Time for attendance records

A solution to improve the transparency of MP attendance is to introduce publicly available records.

It's a simple fix supported by the Greens and some former premiers. The Liberal and Labor parties both declined to say whether they would back the idea.

Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell said the party would support the introduction of publicly available attendance reporting, because MPs who "take a taxpayer salary but don't turn up… should be held accountable".

"MPs are paid to turn up and do their jobs," Ms Sandell said.

Former premiers Denis Napthine and Jeff Kennett both said they supported the introduction of attendance records.

"Constituents have a right to know that their member of parliament attends parliament, how often they attend parliament, and how actively they participate in the parliament on their behalf," Mr Napthine said. 

"I think that information ought to be publicly available."

Mr Kennett said Mr Cheeseman had "substantially failed the test of appropriate representation" and said he supported the introduction of attendance records.

Ongoing criticism

Since his 2024 move to the crossbench, Mr Cheeseman has been roundly criticised for a lack of effort while remaining as an MP.

At the time of his dumping, his website and social media pages were all deactivated. They have not been revived.

He has also consistently ignored media attempts to seek comment from him, including dozens of calls, emails, texts and visits to his office by the ABC. 

Earlier this month Mr Cheeseman was visible in his office, but instructed a staffer to tell the ABC he would not speak.

The apparent lack of attendance, along with his refusal to speak to media or provide any visible public presence online for his constituents, has prompted heavy criticism.

City of Greater Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj, a long-time Liberal Party member, described the MP as "taking the piss" and a "waste of space" in the Geelong Advertiser.

The same paper delivered one of its most scathing opinion pieces in recent memory earlier this year, saying the "incompetent" South Barwon MP had "not only disgraced himself, but the democratic process".

Mr Cheeseman did not respond when asked if he planned to recontest the November election.