Communications Minister Anika Wells has been accused of “taking taxpayers for a ride” after claiming up to $337 for single Comcar rides as short as 3km around Canberra.

It marks the latest in ongoing scrutiny over the Queensland MP’s spending, which first made headlines after a $120,000 New York trip to the UN in September.

Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson on Sunday used the new details revealed by The Daily Telegraph about expensive Canberra trips to renew calls for further spending scrutiny.

The Minister had claimed “unexpected delays” leaving events had resulted in a $329 bill for a trip 2.3km from Parliament to Kingston, $337 trip from Parkes to Kingston and then a $291 trip from Reid to Kingston.

Trips which could have been as little as between $10-20 in an Uber.

Senator Henderson insisted it showed a “total disregard for taxpayers’ money” and accused the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of ignoring the issue after refusing to fire the Cabinet Minister.

“Anika Wells is taking taxpayers for a ride, again,” she said on Sunday.

“The Prime Minister keeps turning a blind eye while one of his ministers treats taxpayers’ money like her own personal expense account.

“The excuses keep piling up. Enough is enough.”

Labor MPs were again forced to defend Ms Wells during public appearances on Sunday, with Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth coming to her aid on Sky News.

The Minister insisted that Ms Wells had done the right thing by self-referring to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) to be audited.

“Well, I would say that Anika Wells is an excellent minister. She does a great job in both communications and in sport,” Ms Rishworth said.

“In terms of when it comes to Anika’s travel, she did the right thing. She asked for IPEA to look at her travel.

“She has then been really upfront and explained where she may have inadvertently not been within the rules and that’s been dealt with.

“I think broadly she’s done the right thing and has been very transparent and I’ll just leave it at that.”

IPEA recently ordered Ms Wells to repay $8,093 in wrongly claimed expenses plus $2,023 in penalties for her travels between 2022 and 2025 in December.