ATTORNEY-General George Brandis has paid back almost $1700 claimed in parliamentary expenses to go to the wedding of a radio shock jock. Senator Brandis said although he believed the function was work related, there was “uncertainty” about the entitlement. Senator Brandis and coalition colleague Barnaby Joyce have come under fire for claiming $3000 between them to attend the 2011 wedding of friend and former 2UE broadcaster Michael Smith, which was held at a hotel owned by John Singleton on the NSW Central Coast.
Senator Brandis had told Fairfax his attendance was “primarily professional”, because Mr Smith had been covering scandals involving then Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Craig Thomson. But in a subsequent letter to the Department of Finance he enclosed a cheque for $1683.06, saying while he considered that they were within parliamentary entitlements, he wanted to “resolve any uncertainty in favour of the taxpayer”.
“I considered that those costs were within parliamentary entitlements, since they were incurred in the course of attendance at a function primarily for work-related purposes. I remain of that view,” he wrote in the letter today. “It is clear that the relevant criterion is the purpose of the travel, not the nature of the event. “However, I accept there can be uncertainty about the circumstances in which attendance at a private function for work-related purposes is within the entitlement.” Comment is being sought from Mr Joyce, the new Agriculture Minister.
Labor leadership candidate Bill Shorten has called for an investigation into the matter, and noted the irony of the allegations against Senator Brandis. He said the attorney-general had been one the coalition’s “lead attack dogs” against former Speaker Peter Slipper, who is facing fraud charges over claims he abused his parliamentary expenses. “It is not normal to say that the reason why you get the taxpayer to support you to go to a wedding is so that you can network with journalists,” Mr Shorten told ABC Television. “I just wonder what George Brandis would say if it had been a Labor person. “I just wonder if he’d call for a police investigation. Would he expect the same standard to be applied to him, if he had called for a parliamentary investigation?
“It is most unusual that you just go to a shock jock’s wedding, who’s got political views close to your own, and then we read reports in the media that all of us a paying for it.” Finance Minister Mathias Cormann defended his coalition colleagues, saying both had believed the claims were within their parliamentary entitlements. “Claims that are made by politicians in terms of any type of public allowance need to be made with entitlement,” Mr Cormann told Network Ten. “At the time, the judgment was that it was. If there is change to this I’m sure that this will be worked through in the appropriate way, in the appropriate process, and if there are conflicts along the way, I’m sure they will be dealt with in the appropriate way as well.” AAP – See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/george-brandis-pays-back-expenses-claimed-to-attend-radio-host-michael-smiths-wedding/story-fn59niix-1226729426554#sthash.LpaRZpFZ.dpuf
Our proud Parliamentarians at Play with a Shock Jock.
29 Sunday Sep 2013
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in Uncategorized
gerard oosterman said:
In a way, the best man was the worst man. 🙂
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hph said:
Unbelievable!
No shame at all!
How much are they getting paid to steal *more* from tax-payers ?
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gerard oosterman said:
Lots of perks, I suspect. I wonder if Brandis is running some sort of ‘Best man’ outfit on the sly.. Get’s first class airfares with all the sushi and dancing he can possibly cope with.
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gerard oosterman said:
Why would an AG even consider going to a wedding of a man who was thrown out of 2ue because of his attempts to smear politicians. I mean, no mean feat to be kicked out of 2ue on the grounds of prejudice. He refused to sign a gagging order.
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helvityni said:
From someone who was like an attack dog, hounding Thomson and Slipper, this is absolutely unforgivable; A man of Law 🙂
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algernon1 said:
I wonder if the shock jock with a taste for males of a certain age was there. they have a way with words that speak to an audience like this.
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Big M said:
I wonder when AJ is going to get his comeuppance??
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algernon1 said:
I think he needs to lose a few pictures first. Sooner one hopes
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gerard oosterman said:
The shock jock did not have a best man. But two close friends spoke: George Brandis, then one of the Abbott opposition’s lead attack dogs and now Attorney-General, and deputy Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce. Mr Joyce read a poem called Fair Dinkum Love. Senator Brandis made a bridal speech before dominating the dance floor.
According to travel expenses lodged with the Department of Finance, the duo collectively billed taxpayers nearly $3000 for flights, hire cars and incidental expenses incurred on the trip.
Senator Brandis claimed $1700, including more than $1000 on return flights, $143 on a hire car and the overnight ”official business” allowance designed to cover accommodation and incidentals.
He told Fairfax Media on Saturday that he regarded the wedding as a chance to ”foster collaboration” over Mr Smith’s work covering the then prime minister and the Craig Thomson scandal and it was therefore ”primarily a professional rather than a social engagement”.
”These were both matters of significant national interest on which I spoke frequently in Parliament and the media,” he wrote in a statement.
The federal Department of Finance’s guidelines state MPs are allowed to claim travel and accommodation expenses for official business including ”meetings of a government advisory committee or taskforce” or ”functions representing a minister or presiding officer”. Meeting with journalists is not a purpose sanctioned by the guidelines.
Senator Brandis let his hair down at the wedding reception at John Singleton’s boutique hotel, Bells at Killcare.
”He was tearing up the dance floor,” Mr Smith said about his wedding guest at the time.
But Mr Smith told Fairfax there were nearly 10 people working in the media at his wedding and the senators used it as a chance to network. Mr Smith and his wife arranged for the two senators to be dropped back at the Mantra Ettalong Beach hotel by stretch limousine.
Senator Brandis later claimed $349 in ”official business” entitlements for overnight trips and designed to cover accommodation, meals and incidentals. Mr Joyce did not claim that entitlement.
Mr Joyce claimed a flight to Moree the next day and about $500 worth of charges for the use of a Commonwealth car on the day of the wedding. He said he could not recall whether he had other meetings that day but defended the use of public resources to attend the wedding.
”There were, no doubt, lots of people there involved in politics,” he said. ”It was one of these things where you’re noted more by your absence than by your participation.”
In the last Parliament, Senator Brandis made the case for prosecutions of Mr Thomson and Peter Slipper.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ministers-claimed-costs-for-wedding-trip-20130928-2ul6a.html#ixzz2gGCGJgAw
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gerard oosterman said:
I am surprised Brandis and Joyce did not try and claim it under ”culture and arts” . I am also surprised that the girl married that bloke. She played the piano from the age of 4. Perhaps it was money. Sad it is.
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algernon1 said:
Well barking barney was an accountant prior to entering politics. I’m sure he could be creative with the expenditure here. Brandis is the AG the chief law maker in the land. I suppose he can make up any rule to suit himself.
With this new government it really is a case of WTF do we do now. I can hardly wait for Adolf to head on down to the nearest phone box to make calls of national importance because he trusts no one.
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Big M said:
Ironic, given that the Slipper cabcharges amounted to less than a thousand: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/national-affairs/former-speaker-peter-slipper-pleads-not-guilty-to-cabcharge-fraud/story-fndckad0-1226649085545
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vivienne29 said:
I’ve already written on this. There is absolutely nothing in the Handbook rules about MPs’ entitlements which remotely suggest that this was a claimable event.
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Big M said:
It’s just like volunteering, isn’t it?
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vivienne29 said:
As I said elsewhere, the MP is the sole judge of whether his/her claim is genuine/claimable etc. Nothing gets vetted until some bright spark decides to have a good look at things and dig a bit.
Abbott doesn’t claim to be volunteering all the time – that comes from his supporters. The bike ride raises money but at considerable public expense. But it more like a holiday for him. It all stinks.
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Big M said:
I’m off to the bottle shop, I’ll be diarising my distance and time. I’ll be fostering relationships with some locals.
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gerard oosterman said:
Can I claim the 6 bottles of Aldi’s clean skins for $11.90?
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Big M said:
Mrs M has a new liking for Rekorderlig Swedish cider, so, being a compliant husband, and hoping for a relaxed, happy wife, felt compelled to go out and purchase some, plus a few beers.
Your Aldi pack is in the mail!
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helvityni said:
I don’t think this is just about paying the money back when he was sprang, isn’t also about the integrity of the office, after all he is the Attorney General, shame on you George harassing Thomson and Slipper, how revolting you are, Abbs’ Arts Minister…what kinds of arts, I ask?
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helvityni said:
isn’t IT
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