Bronwyn Bishop insists she did 'nothing wrong' amid travel expenses investigation
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Disgraced former speaker Bronwyn Bishop has launched a passionate defence of her taxpayer-funded travel, declaring she "did nothing wrong" after a report into her expenses said she did not fully cooperate with the investigation.
Key points:
- Bronwyn Bishop was silent about hundreds of travel claims
- She said she did not want to "open her life to the world"
- Ms Bishop said Telmo Languiller, Don Nardella deserved more coverage than she did
Ms Bishop resigned as speaker and was dumped by Liberal preselectors after charging the public for a helicopter ride from Melbourne to attend a party fundraiser in Geelong.
The Herald Sun has obtained the official report into her travel expenses showing she repaid nearly $14,000 to the Commonwealth, including for trips to three colleagues' weddings and travel to businessman Kerry Packer's funeral.
The Finance Department report also highlights Ms Bishop's reluctance to help investigators, saying the information she provided was "in large part, lacking in any detail".
It said she stayed silent about hundreds of travel claims because she did not want to "open her life to the world".
"As the department is reliant on information provided by Ms Bishop to fulfil its role in the exercise, no further assessment is possible in relation to the incomplete seven years," the report said.
Ms Bishop lashed out at the media for its focus on her spending, which she defended as being "quite within the rules".
"Give me a break, we're talking about a helicopter ride and some small expenses I also [repaid] plus 25 per cent [penalty]," she told Sky News last night.
"Give me a break. I did nothing wrong. None of any of that had anything to do with my greed or my pleasure.
"What I was doing was my job and I was determined that I would do the job to the best of my ability."
Ms Bishop pointed to scandals engulfing Victoria's former speaker Telmo Languiller and former deputy speaker Don Nardella, saying the pair deserved more coverage than she did.
Mr Nardella has lived outside his western Melbourne state electorate since 2010 and has claimed about $175,000 under a taxpayer-funded second residence allowance, which he has not repaid.
Mr Languiller listed a Geelong property as his residence — despite representing a seat in Melbourne's west — and has repaid $37,834.
Costs of 11 trips repaid
The documents showed Ms Bishop repaid costs for 11 trips before she stopped helping investigators.
On three separate occasions, she initially claimed more than $1,000 for flights and car travel to the weddings of former colleagues Sophie Mirabella, Peter Slipper and Teresa Gambaro.
The former member for Mackellar also claimed $126.45 to be chauffeured to Kerry Packer's February 2006 funeral.
She also returned hundreds of dollars' worth of taxi travel, including for transport to and from an internal Liberal Party committee.
"She took the view that if her attendance at an event was in response to a stakeholder invitation, then she was entitled to travel at Commonwealth expense," the report said.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, australia
