Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bronwyn Bishop spent more than $300,000 of taxpayers' dollars on overseas travel in her first year as federal Speaker, culminating in a $90,000 European trip partly aimed at securing her a plum new job abroad.
An analysis by Fairfax Media shows Mrs Bishop spent more on overseas travel in a 12-month period than any of her most recent predecessors – Anna Burke, Peter Slipper and Harry Jenkins.
Mrs Bishop spent $178,000 on four major trips in the first half of 2014 and $131,000 on two trips in the latter half — $309,000 in total. Only Mr Jenkins ever even came close to that figure, racking up $277,000 in 2009.
The final of Mrs Bishop's 2014 trips – to Italy, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland – has stirred particular controversy.
Mrs Bishop led a small parliamentary delegation on the two-week trip which culminated in a week-long meeting in Geneva of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, of which she was campaigning to become president.
Mrs Bishop lost the vote to Bangladesh's candidate – but not before racking up $88,084 in expenses.
The veteran Liberal warrior's latest six-monthly entitlements report reveals she and two staff members, spokesman Damien Jones and official Talitha Try, spent $25,400 on accommodation and food, $42,400 on airfares and almost $14,000 on ground transport over the fortnight. They also pocketed about $6000 in advances and for minor and related expenses.
Even taking into account the fact that she had accompanying staff, Mrs Bishop's spending dwarfs that of her four fellow delegates.
On the same trip, Liberal MP Nola Marino spent $21,300, while Labor parliamentarians Glenn Sterle and Tony Zappia spent $18,666 and $13,249 respectively. Liberal senator Cory Bernardi, who only travelled to Switzerland, spent $10,178.
Indeed, Mrs Bishop and her staff spent vastly more than all four of the other delegates combined – their total expenses tally up to about $63,000. They each spent between $2000 to $3000 on accommodation and food and between $8000 and $15,000 on flights.
A source familiar with the trip said Mrs Bishop's bill was "gobsmacking".
"I just don't know how the hell she could spend that much," the source said.
Mr Jones said Mrs Bishop was entitled to take two staff members on the trip.
"It's the first and only time she has taken two staff," he said. "That was due to the size of the trip and the fact she was running for IPU president."
Mr Jones said that while Mrs Bishop was entitled to fly first-class she actually flew business class.
Mrs Bishop's entitlement report shows she also racked up a $43,000 bill on a trip through Asia.
The report also reveals she charged taxpayers more than $5000 to charter a flight from Melbourne to Geelong in November. Her office has repeatedly failed to explain why she needed to charter a helicopter for a trip that would have taken her about an hour in her much cheaper chauffer-driven Commonwealth car.
Labor has written to Mrs Bishop's office demanding answers.
Her total expenses for the period from July 1 to December 31, 2014, add up to just under $400,000, making her one of the biggest spenders in Parliament if you set aside once-off office fitout costs.
Indeed, the only MPs who spent more were Prime Minister Tony Abbott and five frontbenchers required to do a lot of travel.
Her expenses come on top of her $341,000 salary.
Mrs Bishop came under heavy fire last year when she decided, along with Senate President Stephen Parry, to confine women wearing facial coverings to glass-enclosed viewing galleries in Parliament. It's believed the controversy cruelled her chances at the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
With Fergus Hunter
