WA Labor’s Riverton MLA Jagadish Krishnan spends nearly entire salary on electorate expenses
For three years in a row, Labor’s Jagadish Krishnan has spent nearly his entire annual backbench salary on things like “communicating with the electorate”, the Riverton MP’s expense reports have revealed.
The reports add another layer of intrigue to Krishnan’s personal finances, which also include revelations a $1 million loan was taken out against his Mosman Park family home for his wife’s business.
Krishnan’s finances were thrust into the spotlight last week after this masthead revealed he was facing a lawsuit from a wealthy New York businessman Kannan Amalraj over an alleged unpaid $AU1 million loan.
And according to electorate expense reports from 2022 to 2025, Krishnan outspent every other MP in both houses every year by at least $120,000.
Before entering politics, Krishnan was a doctor who co-founded a large network of GP clinics under the company Spectrum Health Group. He continued to derive income from this business while in Parliament, which had been declared under his family company, Srishanna Pty Ltd.
MPs are given an allowance each year to spend on their office or engagement with their electorates, but any spend over the allowance comes out of the MP’s own pocket.
In 2022-23 the allowance was $78,000. Krishnan claimed the full amount and spent a further $157,000, taking his total spend to $235,000, including $143,000 on community engagement and $72,000 on communications.
The next highest-spending MP that year was former Labor Churchlands MP Christine Tonkin, who spent $110,000 – about $22,000 above her claimable allowance.
WA Premier Roger Cook only spent $300 more than his allowance that year.
A backbencher’s salary in 2022-23 was $161,000, meaning Krishnan spent more than 97 per cent of his base salary on electorate expenses.
In 2023-24, the electoral allowance was bumped up to $88,000, but Krishnan spent $149,000 above that. This time he spent $144,000 on “community engagement and constituent support” and $71,400 on communications.
That year, the base salary of an MP was $166,000, meaning Krishnan spent 89 per cent of his salary on electorate items. Krishnan was also being paid an additional $20,000 for his role as a parliamentary secretary.
Greens leader Brad Pettitt was the next highest-spending MP, spending $27,000 above his claimable allowance.
In 2024-25, the MP base salary was $173,000 and expenses remained at $88,000.
Krishnan spent $231,689 that year – $143,000 more than claimable, or 82 per cent of his base salary.
That year, the average annual full-time salary in Australia was about $100,000.
Krishnan said all funding from his member’s allowance had been committed to community organisations within his electorate such as schools and sporting clubs.
He did not respond to questions about why his spending was so much higher than his colleagues, but confirmed he was spending his own money.
“Additional funding, which I have declared, has come from my personal accounts,” he said.
“I have been committed to the people of Riverton and will continue to deliver for my community.”
Krishnan has pulled his spending back this year, with his office confirming that of the $90,000 member’s allowance provided in 2025-26, only $58,512 had been spent.
In addition to the lawsuit over the $1 million loan agreement struck in 2024, Landgate records show that same year Krishnan and his wife Yaamini Jagadish used their Mosman Park home to secure another $1 million loan.
WA-based small business loan company Corporate Funding drew up the high-interest loan, with weekly repayments set at $5769 if the entire debt was drawn down.
The loan was for a company which Krishnan’s wife is the sole shareholder of, Medical Transcriptions Pty Ltd.
The latest Landgate records show the loan has been refinanced with a new facility of $332,000.
Interest is set at 3.5 per cent monthly, with weekly payments set at $1911. Krishnan and his wife are listed as guarantors.
WAtoday understands the loan was a short-term security for a business loan.
Srishanna was a major shareholder of Spectrum Health Group before it was sold in a multimillion-dollar deal last week.
Last week Krishnan refused to detail how much money he made from the sale, citing commercial confidence.
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.Connect via X or email.
