Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has defended charging taxpayers nearly $4000 for a trip that included a whale-watching tour, arguing it was only a small part of her visit to the area.

Finance department documents show the South Australian senator claimed $3560 to cover the cost of the overnight trip with her 10-year-old daughter on September 7-8 last year.

Senator Hanson-Young said she had met the local community to discuss the dangers of oil drilling in the area, which included a visit to a tourist centre to see the whales in the Great Australian Bight.

“I went to those areas. I spoke to the local council in Ceduna, the fishing industry, the oyster industry, local tourism operators and the local indigenous people,” she said.

“I consulted with people who agree with the drilling and disagree with the drilling.

“It was two days’ worth of consultations and meetings.”

She also refused to back down in a radio interview on Monday morning, saying that she had been there to do work as a senator.

“I was off there doing my job,” she told Adelaide’s FiveAA.

“The idea that we can make these complaints and campaign without actually going there and talking to people is silly.”

According to Finance Department documents, Senator Hanson-Young charged the taxpayer $268 in travel allowances, $1292.52 for charter travel including $317.52 on a hire car, $1875.80 for return flights between Adelaide and Ceduna for her and her daughter, and $120.40 for a chauffeured Commonwealth car.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young met with members of the oyster industry.

The Australian, which broke the story, reported that Senator Hanson-Young had spent $3874.24 in total, but The New Daily understands that figure had doubled up on the costs on the hire car.

Senator Hanson-Young accused the paper of “trying to slur” her and her commitment to her job.

She defended taking her child on the trip, saying she had no choice because her daughter had been sick on September 7.

“I’m a single mum and I take my job really seriously,” Senator Hanson-Young told the radio station.

“We had two days’ worth of meetings and consultations booked in. Rather than sending my sick daughter to school or cancelling those trips, I did both. I kept up my job as a mum and I kept up my job as a senator.”

Under parliamentary rules, politicians can claim travel allowance for overnight stays in locations other than their home base.

Senator Hanson-Young claimed the allowance for a stay in the small settlement of Coorabie, which is 156 kilometres west of Ceduna and where helicopter landing facilities serve a BP/Statoil exploration project.

The senator posted a few selfies from her trip to the Great Australian Bight.

Photos posted to her Facebook page show aerial shots of the coastline, whales in the ocean, a plate of oysters and suggest a visit to the Head of Bight whale centre.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced an overhaul of the expenses system after former health minister Sussan Ley came under fire in early January for her use of taxpayer-funded charter flights.

The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority, which will oversee and provide advice on politicians’ travel expenses, began operating work on July 1.

Senator Hanson-Young also disputed that the area she had visited was in fact protected from oil drilling due to its inclusion in Australia’s federal marine reserve network, saying oil companies were putting pressure on governments to “start getting their rigs in the ocean”.

In October last year, BP announced it would not be proceeding with exploration drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

But Norwegian company Statoil said last month that it would pursue plans for a drilling project in the area.