Second George Brandis bookcase costs $15,000
MATTHEW KNOTT More than $15,000 of taxpayers' money was spent on a second custom-built bookcase to house Attorney-General George Brandis' extensive collection of books and law reports.
Randall asked Finance about charging trip
JONATHAN SWAN It was always going to be challenging for federal Coalition MP Don Randall to explain how it was in the public interest for him and his wife to fly business class to the opposite side of Australia to take possession of their investment property.
Police end probe into Somlyay's hiring of wife
JONATHAN SWAN The Australian Federal Police says it has not found any conduct by former Coalition MP Alex Somlyay related to the employment of his wife that "would constitute a criminal offence".
Finance fails to rule on Abbott's wedding travel
JONATHAN SWAN The Finance Department claimed it was "not possible to determine" whether Tony Abbott's taxpayer-funded travel to the wedding of then parliamentary colleague Sophie Mirabella qualified as "official business".
Two departments chip in for Brandis library
JONATHAN SWAN A new wing of the monumental ''Brandis Library'' is set to open after two Commonwealth departments agreed to pool their money to buy the Attorney-General a new bookcase.
Somlyay fraud claim papers sent to AFP
JONATHAN SWAN Fraud allegations levelled against a recently retired Liberal Party MP will be evaluated by the Australian Federal Police.
Claims MP's wife on payroll despite no work
JONATHAN SWAN Taxpayers have allegedly been defrauded of tens of thousands of dollars by a recently retired Liberal Party federal MP who appears to have paid his wife for non-existent work in his electorate office.
Files reveal Brandis' bookcase demands
JONATHAN SWAN New information released by the Department of the Senate shows the full measure of devotion Senator Brandis has applied to his office library.
Abbott says new rules strike balance
BIANCA HALL Prime Minister Tony Abbott says his changes to entitlements rules will improve the public's confidence in the system, while ensuring politicians are not made prisoners within Parliament.
'Jury's out' on expense reforms: Shorten
JUDITH IRELAND Labor leader Bill Shorten says the 'jury’s out’ on whether the Coalition’s changes to MPs expense claims go far enough, but argues it is up to the Abbott government to drive reform on travel rorts.
Crackdown on MPs' dubious travel claims
The government has tightened the rules on politicians’ travel expenses, after a Fairfax Media campaign revealed MPs were regularly making questionable claims.
Joyce won't pay funds back
JUDITH IRELAND Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has defended charging the taxpayer more than $5300 for attending three NRL games in 2012, declaring he will not be paying the funds back as the trips were a legitimate part of his job.
NRL expenses were official business: Joyce
Jonathan Swan, Lisa Visentin Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce billed taxpayers more than $4600 for ''official business'' travel to attend rugby league games.
Changes to MP's expenses likely: minister
JONATHAN SWAN Senior federal ministers have suggested it is all but inevitable that the Abbott government will tighten the rules governing politicians' entitlements, in the wake of the expenses scandal.
Senior MPs' VIP travel cost $2m
Mark Hawthorne, Paddy Doulman and Jonathan Swan Senior figures in the Abbott government were among those who enjoyed regular travel on VIP military aircraft, amassing a bill of more than $2 million.
Rudd ministers told not to use VIP aircraft
HEATH ASTON Ministers in the Rudd government were warned off using VIP military aircraft to commute because the expense would not pass ''the front-page test''.
'It's not as if I got the keys'
Jonathan Swan, Judith Ireland Don Randall says he can "sleep well at night" about his taxpayer-funded trip to Cairns, adding that while he visited his investment property "it wasn't as if I got the keys or anything".
Abbott defends Randall's Cairns trip
JONATHAN SWAN Prime Minister Tony Abbott has provided the first explanation from the government for WA MP Don Randall's taxpayer-funded trip to Cairns, saying Mr Randall had ''very important discussions'' with Coalition whip.
Trip to Margaret River 'electoral business'
Jonathan Swan, Lisa Visentin The tourist town of Yallingup is better known for its wine than its traffic congestion. But it was the latter issue among others that appear to have drawn NSW MP John Alexander.
Pollies pay back $20,000 in claims
BIANCA HALL Federal politicians have repaid taxpayers more than $20,000 in the last three weeks.
Randall to pay back Cairns trip cash
Liberal MP Don Randall said he would immediately repay more than $5000 in expense entitlements claimed for a trip to Cairns, as the Australian Federal Police referred cases of alleged misuse of MPs entitlements back to the Finance Department.
Labor MP asks AFP to investigate Abbott
JONATHAN SWAN Labor MP Rob Mitchell has written to the Australian Federal Police to request formal investigations into the alleged misuse of parliamentary entitlements by Tony Abbott and George Brandis.
Monitoring expenses a 'huge bureaucracy'
JONATHAN SWAN Two months before Don Randall took a trip to Cairns that has raised serious questions about politicians' expenses, the Liberal MP pontificated in Parliament on the subject.
Dodging questions over expense claims
Jonathan Swan, Lisa Visentin A Liberal MP has spent more than $10,000 on questionable travel, Fairfax Media can reveal.
Brandis Library is shelved
JONATHAN SWAN When it comes to libraries, George Brandis can claim a place alongside George Washington and other great men .
Hands out of the cookie jar
Tom Allard The Prime Minister would do well to trade Lycra for action on MPs' entitlements.
Wedding woes for Lib MPs
Jonathan Swan, Lisa Visentin A quarter of Tony Abbott's frontbench is now embroiled in the expenses scandal after Scott Morrison and Stuart Robert repaid taxpayer funds used to attend a colleague's wedding.
Calls for reform on MP entitlements
Jonathan Swan, David Wroe Tony Abbott is resisting demands from all sides of politics to rein in entitlements.
Free NRL finals tickets embarrass Albanese
Anthony Albanese has been forced to declare two free tickets to NRL finals after documents showed he took taxpayer-funded transport to watch South Sydney.
PM defends claiming expenses for Ironman
Tony Abbott says he is entitled to bill taxpayers travel and accommodation costs to compete in the Port Macquarie Ironman, as he also attended other community events.
Taxpayers pick up tab for jet set
Daniel Hurst, Jonathan Swan A Coalition MP who lashed out at supermarkets selling halal meat took ''arduous'' taxpayer-funded overseas study tours to broaden his cultural understanding.
Dreyfus red-faced over taxpayer ski trip
Jonathan Swan and Daniel Hurst Hours after demanding an investigation into Coalition travel expenses, Labor frontbencher Mark Dreyfus has admitted to billing taxpayers for a ski trip to Perisher.
PM billed taxpayers to attend Slipper wedding
Jonathan Swan and Michael Bachelard The expenses scandal has taken a new twist, after it emerged Prime Minister Tony Abbott billed taxpayers to attend Peter Slipper's wedding and repaid the cost seven years later.
Expenses scandal spreads
Jonathan Swan, Daniel Hurst Coalition MPs are endangering their reputations as economic managers by charging taxpayers for personal indulgences such as wedding travel, warns former leader John Hewson.
'Overseas study' claim for wedding
James Robertson and Jonathan Swan Three Coalition MPs claim return flights from a wedding in Hyderabad as 'overseas study'.
PM repays expenses from Mirabella's wedding
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has repaid taxpayers the cost of attending a Liberal colleague’s wedding seven years ago, but only after facing questions from the media late last week.
Brandis, Joyce may face probe over claims
JAMES ROBERTSON George Brandis and Barnaby Joyce could face a probe into their use of travel entitlements, as Mr Joyce revealed he had repaid expenses claimed while attending the wedding of a friend and shock jock.
Brandis defends taxpayer-funded library
Jonathan Swan, James Robertson Attorney-General George Brandis has defended as within his rights spending nearly $13,000 of taxpayer funds over the past four years on his personal library.
Minister pays back wedding expenses
JACQUELINE MALEY Senator George Brandis on Sunday repaid $1683.06 in taxpayer-funded entitlements he claimed to attend a wedding.
Ministers claimed costs for wedding trip
JAMES ROBERTSON Two of Tony Abbott's most high-profile ministers claimed thousands of dollars in taxpayer entitlements for attending the wedding of Sydney shock jock Michael Smith.
Help Fairfax Media investigate expenses
Readers are being invited to help aid the search for potentially misused funds.
Abbott in expenses cycle of shame
The Abbott government's crackdown on politicians who rort travel expenses follows a series of reports by Fairfax Media revealing dubious claims by a quarter of Tony Abbott's frontbench.
Expenses crackdown: shades of grey to stay
Comment Without a code of conduct, or an independent arbiter supervising the system, the new rules will do little.
Putting MPs' expenses to the 'pub test'
Have your say on what's a reasonable expense for politicians to claim.
What's behind Randall's disappearing act?
Comment The term 'besieged MP' is used too often . But in Don Randall's case, it's pretty apt.
Abbott backs Randall
PM Tony Abbott says government MP Don Randall made his taxpayer funded trip from Perth to Cairns and back because he needed to talk to his party whip.
'Trust-me Tony's' silence is curious
Mark Kenny Tony Abbott cast the election as a referendum on trust.
Ooops! Quick! Where's that damn protocol?
Tony Wright There was a time when politicians who had tickled the public travel dollar knew the courageous riposte.
Dishonesty separates the dubious claims
West Australian MP Don Randall should be lawyering up and preparing for a full investigation by the Australian Federal Police.
Expenses scandal widens
Liberal MP Don Randall is under pressure to explain billing tax payers for an extensive collection of books and a trip to Cairns.
MPs checking expenses
The PM's parliamentary secretary says all federal politicians would be investigating their past claims.
Tony Abbott owns rort problems
Comment: Prevarication, self-indulgence and lack of leadership mean he will cop blame for everyone's dodgy claims.
Brandis' excuse a sad reflection on a wedding
Comment Two things occur from revelations that the imperious George Brandis has been using public dollars to fund his private political and social interests.
