Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s pledge of a root and branch review of the system of parliamentary entitlements is welcome but even more needs to be done if any form of faith in politics in this country is to be restored.
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A reader who called the Register yesterday wanted to know how many times Bronwyn Bishop had flown into HMAS Albatross when Shoalhaven Mayor Joanna Gash was Gilmore MP. He told us he worked at the base and recalled her visiting a couple of times. He, like us, would like to know what the circumstances were and whether the expense of the flights was justified.
Given the grotesque profligacy of the $6000 Nowra executive jet flight and the Geelong helicopter trip, many voters want to know what else lurks in Mrs Bishop’s spending history and won’t be happy if it is all swept under the carpet after her resignation as speaker.
We respect but don’t agree with Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis’ assertion that the issue is finished. We call for a sanitising light to be shone over all MPs’ expenses so we can judge for ourselves whether they have been way too liberal with what is essentially our money.
Yes, our money, a point made by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on ABC radio on Monday. Mr Turnbull’s certainly not short of a quid but his call for all MPs to exercise common sense when spending taxpayers’ money was just that – common sense.
So, too, was his idea that the word “entitlement” be done away with, to be replaced with “allowance”.
After we were all told by Treasurer Joe Hockey that the age of entitlement was over, it’s not too much to expect the first place to end it is in Canberra, where clearly the trough needs to be cleared of parliamentary snouts.
