This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Five Labor MPs have used their taxpayer-funded publication allowance to pay thousands of dollars to a Labor-aligned thinktank.

The group of MPs have defended charging taxpayers up to $1,000 a year on the basis they bought “institutional subscriptions” to the John Curtin Research Centre’s the Tocsin magazine, which is free online or costs just $50 for individual subscribers.

Bill Shorten has issued the mildest of rebukes by saying he does not expect the subscriptions to continue, but defended his MPs’ use of taxpayer funds on Thursday.

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The Daily Telegraph revealed, and documents held by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority confirm, that:

At a press conference in Queensland Shorten said he understood “the expenditure was approved by ... [the] Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority”.

“But I have to say I don’t expect that subscription to continue,” he said.

The John Curtin Research Centre, a social democratic thinktank, was launched by Shorten in 2017. Hammond, Kitching, Danby and Kelly are on the thinktank’s board of advisers, which also includes Labor’s industry spokesman, Kim Carr.

The five Labor MPs said the Department of Finance was “satisfied the subscription was within parliamentary work expenses guidelines”.

“Members and senators are offered an institutional subscription, not a personal subscription,” they reportedly said.

On Thursday, the Labor senator Jenny McAllister told Sky News the MPs “did check it off with the finance department”.

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“It’s a bit hard to comment on the specifics of this particular story, I’m not a subscriber to that publication,” she said. “But I think if they’ve checked it out with the finance department – what else are we to ask our MPs to do?”

Asked about the limits of what could be purchased with the publications allowance, McAllister said MPs have to use their own judgment.

“It’s all very public what you buy, it’s able to be scrutinised by journalists and the public and I think most MPs have an eye to that when they’re making their choices – I certainly do.”

On Thursday, the New Daily reported that 62 federal parliamentarians have claimed a total of $1.1m on Canberra accommodation costs despite also declaring they own homes in the nation’s capital.

Guardian Australia has contacted Hammond, Kitching, Danby, Kelly and Khalil for comment.