Victoria's Deputy Speaker Don Nardella has been caught out claiming a generous "second residence" allowance worth almost $40,000 a year while living by the ocean miles from the city electorate he represents.
The news follows revelations in Fairfax Media that the Speaker, Telmo Languiller, claimed nearly $40,000 while living in Queenscliff while representing the western suburbs electorate of Tarneit.
Mr Nardella, who represents Labor in the outer-western suburbs electorate of Melton, has confirmed that he has been living in the Bellarine Peninsula town of Ocean Grove since April 2014 - suggesting he will soon have claimed more than $113,000 in taxpayer-funded entitlements.
But despite Premier Daniel Andrews conceding earlier on Friday that it was "self-evident" the second residence allowance was meant for regional MPs who worked at Spring Street, Mr Nardella did not say he would pay the money back.
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"It is my home, I'm claiming it," he told Fairfax Media.
The allowance, open to MPs who live more than 80 kilometres from the city and maintain a second residence in Melbourne, is worth $25,120 for backbenchers, or $37,678 for ministers and office holders, including the deputy speaker.
One senior Labor figure, upon hearing the news of Mr Nardella's claims, said "what the f--- is wrong with these people?"
Mr Nardella, a self-proclaimed heavy metal enthusiast, was first elected to parliament in 1992 and has served in various roles including parliamentary secretary and acting speaker.
Prior to Jane Garrett's resignation from the ministry last year, there had been speculation he would stand aside at the next election to help his Socialist Left faction colleague find a safe seat.
Mr Nardella is the third Labor MP to be embroiled in an entitlements scandal within the past few months, following Mr Languiller, whose future now hangs in the balance, and former Minister Steve Herbert, who resigned after getting caught using his ministerial car to chauffer his pet dogs around the state.
While Mr Andrews has so far resisted taking action - and his office did not comment on Friday night - the latest scandals have renewed momentum for an independent Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to oversee Victoria's entitlements system.
Such a commissioner – modelled on a similar system established in the United Kingdom in 1995 – could be responsible for managing entitlements and the register of members' interests, monitoring the code of conduct for MPs, advising members about the rules, and investigating Ministers, MPs, or their staff for alleged breaches.
The idea was briefly considered by a cabinet sub-committee in the early days of the Andrews government, but was quietly shelved after revelations Labor may have misused parliamentary funds in the lead up to the state election.
However, Greens leader Greg Barber said the latest spate of breaches should put the establishment of an independent MP watchdog back on the agenda.
"Unless the party leaders put up their hands to lead change, then no change will happen," he said. "We need to make sure the entitlements meet community standards, they have to be transparent, and then they have to be administered at arms length - by a parliamentary standards commissioner."