The Department of Finance figures also showed Mrs Bishop took a commercial flight from Melbourne to Coolangatta on Melbourne Cup Day before returning to Melbourne the next day, at a cost of $870.
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Bishop issued a brief statement on Thursday afternoon insisting she had not breached the rules but would reimburse the funds.
“I have today written to the Special Minister of the State indicating I will reimburse the Department of Finance the costs associated with the use of my charter allowance on 5 November 2014”, the statement said. No she’s not; she’s concerned to attended a Liberal Party fundraiser using taxpayers money.
But the overseas expenditure didn’t stop there with a further $43,000 on a trip to Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos and Korea in September past year, Fairfax reported. “These charters can be aircraft, helicopters or other vehicles”, a spokesman said. “Instinctively, it doesn’t”, he told Sydney radio station 2UE on Thursday.
‘If it’s been signed in its usual form, you just can’t pretend that part of the ordinary business of being the Speaker is getting a chopper to a Liberal Party fundraiser, ‘ he told the Seven Network on Friday.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the claim was “one of the most egregious abuses of entitlements” and was out of touch with the Australian public.
The office holder must certify that “knowingly giving false or misleading information is a serious offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995” and that they “travelled on the charter and it was provided for official purposes”.
She is ranked seventh out of the top 10 spenders for that period, and one of the biggest spenders in parliament if you leave out once-off office fit-out costs. This included more than $88,000 when she led a parliamentary delegation to Italy, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.
This was the same day she was guest speaker at a $65-a-head Port Stephens Liberal Party dinner, held at the Nelson Bay Bowling Club.
There has been no explanation as to why Mrs Bishop opted for a chartered flight instead of the cheaper mode of a auto – at trip that would have taken about an hour to get to the Clifton Springs Golf Club outside of Geelong on November 5.
He called on Ms Bishop to pay back the money and for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to condemn the spend.
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After a series of controversies over dubious or inappropriate entitlement claims, including by Tony Abbott in opposition, the government announced that parliamentarians would have to pay a 25% loading on any expenses incorrectly claimed.
