Health Minister Sussan Ley has resigned as political expense scandals continue.

Advocates of open government and smart spending worry that the system itself will not change, despite a number of prominent figures now facing public condemnation.

Ms Ley resigned on Friday over her travel expenses scandal, and there is strong speculation that Senator Arthur Sinodinos will permanently fill both her roles as minister for health and minister for sport.

Just days later, reports emerged claiming finance minister Mathias Cormann has billed taxpayers more than $23,000 for weekends away with his wife over the last five years.

It appears that no politician is safe when background actors and news outlets decide to string them up for questionable spending, but just like in cases of federal-level corruption, momentum to change the system is hard to maintain.

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull could now be doing something – or at least attempting to appear that he is – announcing the establishment of a new body to monitor political expenses he describes as an “independent parliamentary expenses authority”.

“It will monitor and adjudicate all claims by MPs, senators and ministers, ensuring that taxpayers' funds are spent appropriately and in compliance with the rules,” Mr Turnbull said on Friday.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale was quick to throw his support behind the PM’s idea.

“We welcome an independent authority,” Di Natale told the ABC.

“It is critical that there is this authority created and it has an advisory and auditing function. We think that is a positive step.”

But the Greens leader says there is a broad range of dodginess to tackle.

“It is really important that it has to sit within a broad anti corruption body,” Di Natale said.

“The Greens want to see a national anti-corruption watchdog, an Independent Commission Against Corruption, like we have got in other states.

“It would deal with not just politician's entitlements and abuses ... but also to look at broader issues of corruption. The idea that the federal parliament is immune from corruption in the way that state parliaments have been exposed over recent years is ludicrous.”

A long list of recommendations and reforms from the Independent Parliamentary Entitlements System Review launched last year is available here.