New South Wales One Nation senator Sean Bell continued to live and work in Queensland during his first four months in office, while billing taxpayers more than $6,000 for chauffeur-driven cars in Brisbane.
After Bell was selected to fill the informal vacancy left by One Nation senator-elect Warwick Stacey in September, the party said the former Pauline Hanson adviser was “currently in the process of moving to New South Wales”.
But parliamentary expenses records released on Wednesday night show Bell continued to call Tivoli, a suburb of Ipswich, his base of operations for the final quarter of 2025, and travel claims show he traveled from Brisbane for parliamentary sitting days last year.
The data shows that he applied for a travel allowance to spend a total of 14 days in the state he now represents.
It is unclear whether Bell has since moved to New South Wales, however a party spokesperson said in late February that “all One Nation senators are residents of the state they represent”.
The party declined to say when Bell had moved when contacted Wednesday.
Property records show Bell still owns a house in Tivoli, while his register of interests filed with the Senate states he owns residential properties in both Queensland and the New South Wales Central Coast.
While there is no constitutional requirement for a senator to live in the state they represent, the selection of Bell as the party’s replacement sparked criticism in the New South Wales parliament.
Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority records show the new senator claimed $6,600 for chauffeur-driven vehicles in Brisbane on 30 separate car trips in the three months from October to December.
In addition, Bell claimed almost $5,000 in airfare for himself and his family to travel between Brisbane and Canberra for parliamentary sitting days in the second half of the year.
The senator, who worked for Hanson for nine years as a “trusted advisor” before being chosen by the party to fill the Senate vacancy, also used his travel rights to familiarize himself with his new NSW constituents.
Bell spent eight days in regional New South Wales, visiting Albury, Coffs Harbour, Cessnock, Gerringong, Maitland and Tamworth. He also spent six nights in Sydney, claiming $499 per night in travel expenses to stay in the city.
The Guardian reported last month that One Nation had hired Hanson’s daughter, a leading Senate candidate in Tasmania, as a senior adviser to Bell.
Hanson is under increasing pressure for his use of taxpayer-funded resources.
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that it had claimed almost $9,000 in taxpayer funds to charter a private jet for an event in Geelong last October at the invitation of Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart. The party claimed the charter flight was the cheapest option available in the absence of a commercial flight between Tamworth and Geelong.
Hanson subsequently took a flight on Rinehart’s private jet from Melbourne to Sydney, but did not declare it in accordance with parliamentary rules until it was revealed by The Guardian.
