Another year, another polly on the ropes over expense claims. Sussan Ley has been on the receiving end of a media pommeling and the collective wisdom is she’s been a naughty minister. She has been dispatched to Coventry and the view is she should settle down and grow accustomed to her new home.
As an observer of various entitlements farragoes over the years, I think Ms Leys’ spending puts her in exalted company, somewhere between Peter Slipper and the guv’nor, Labor’s Mal Colston. Spending $21,000 in a week or so on transport is extraordinary. I didn’t even think it was possible. With those frequent flyer miles, you can forget about the carrot sticks and chardy in the Qantas club. It’s foot-long lobster subs and Moët by the schooner. Hell, they’ll get you your own plane. Maybe even let you fly it.
The Minchin Protocol always sounded like a bad novel and now as it comes to its denouement, it is about as satisfying as an EH Holden Mechanics’ manual or anything knocked out by Clementine Ford.
Full column here.
I say Mr Insider in praise of your robust blog that gives us great freedom to express ourselves and also the free Society we live in too allows that. Now I wonder how long one would have lasted if you spoke out against Hitler, maybe called him a fruitcake or the likes? Stalin brooked no spoken discontent at all as his firing squads were kept very busy even with suspected malcontents. Trump is copping heaps already in the US but dishing it out as well. Democracy a winner always imho.
Here is a little extract from The Rort Rule Book For Pollies…”Entertainment expenses are generally not deductible. This includes the cost of business lunches, attendance at sporting events, gala or social nights, concerts or other similar types of functions or events. This is the case even if you discuss business matters at the occasion”.
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Steve Ciobo is a character. In 2013 there was a near riot in the USA where he refused to for out for an $8,000 hotel bill. Reported in the Herald Sun. He also attended a football match with Big Arnie where he claimed he was the trade minister when he was not.
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Julie Bishop charged taxpayers $2716 to attend a polo game on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Mathias Cormann, billed the Australian people $3533 for air fares so he and his wife could attend an AFL game in Melbourne. “Trade Minister” Steve Ciobo ($1100) and Liberal Senator David Bushby also travelled there on taxpayer dollars. Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester settled on an investment property and attended the tennis all on us in January. George Brandis, Peter Dutton and Mitch Fifield, charged us all almost $7000 to attend Malcolm Turnbull’s exclusive harbourside New Year’s Eve bash! Geez that is REALLY rorting! Dutts is even more in the Poo for hitting taxpayers $4000 for a dinner in Washington. Sussan Ley’s charging of taxpayers $13,000 to charter planes along busy routes, where commercial flights are available at a fraction of the cost is definitely a rort. She has a pilot’s ticket-she could have flown herself. Why did she have to visit the Gold Coast 12 times on us? To buy ‘that’ high rise? She has a pilot’s ticket-she could have flown herself. What did Gough do? Flew cattle class with his long legs and made his Ministers do the same.
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Seems many more Looters are being caught than Labor.
The sooner Steve Ciobo is held up to the light the better.
Absolutely Eccles….
Well Bassy, the suggestion by someone here earlier that she needs 3 take-offs and landings to maintain her licence to fly with passengers may have a lot to do with it. Why not get the taxpayers to pay for the plane? She probably felt she couldn’t afford to hire a plane with her own funds to do that.
If she officially took over the controls of some of those chartered flights, the question has to be asked one would think. Don’t know if she did or didn’t though.
BASSMAN – Just wanted to let you know that I am seriously contemplating forming the view that you may be unwittingly engaging in a hybrid form of ‘chinese whispers’.
Have you ever thought about verifying the source of your many utterances to ensure the validity of your obvious inferences are not compromised?
I am still waiting for you to address my 21 points (last blog)…you tried to account for ONE…dismally.
Tally up the totals Bassy, you are good at that. I think Bill Shorten would be the winner. I know, you don’t vote for them, but he seems to top the travel costs list. Anyway, they are all in to it, just the depth varies.
ley down misere…gawn
Following on from previous discussion JTI on the Culleton saga, things are getting hot in WA. Premier Barnett and Pauline Hanson are now at war.
If he is found have been ineligible to stand at the election because of the criminal charge then outstanding, brother in law Peter Georgiou gets the gig courtesy of the Alan Field amendment to the consitition in 1975 after Joh screwed Labor. That determination could take months. Culleton said he would be Georgiou’s head of staff!
If Culleton was found eligible to stand, it gets really hairy. Hanson says she would have the right to chose, and supposedly has an outstanding candidate in the wings. Could be the former owner of the tits and bums establishment well known in Perth. Meanwhile Barnett insists he and his Cabinet would have the choice of replacement following Culleton’s removal as an undischarged bankrupt.
This has all the makings of a mini series. It will give MT more to worry about than a few dodgy expense claims.
Make that Albert Field. It was a long time ago.
PHON won’t get a say or a guernsey. Cullerton quit PHON and was sitting as an Independent. Barnett will get to pick whoever he wants.
Correct again! Silly move by Culleton. I suspect his brother in law is kicking his head in as we speak. Pauline and Ashby would be acutely aware of that little technicality. That’s why she tried to keep Culleton close right until he quit.
I don’t agree X, if the court finds that Culleton was ineligible to stand it won’t mean Diddly squat what happened post election. By convention the next name on the list gets the gig, and that is Georgiou.
If that scenario fails, stay tuned for QC’s at forty paces arguing constitutional law.
Over on the Dark Side comments vary widely and each has a favourite quote from The Constitution to back their claim. Its a dogs breakfast. I tried to read some of the quoted passages, but gave up thankful we have a High Court to dump it on. I could have understood more if I read Ecclesiastes or Revelations. Or maybe Prognostications I & II (also known as Best Bets and The Sportsman). I did learn that Barnett can leave the Seat empty. That might be best.
Lou, I read somewhere that it gets complicated because Culleton had quit One Nation and gone Independant. Which may mean that Georgiou is not heir apparent
The QC’s will be salivating…..
All the Saints preserve me. Where did Hanson find this kook.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/one-nation-candidate-peter-rogers-claims-port-arthur-massacre-faked/news-story/1e57fe766a8c9c7a3ba27a8d71193e6a
Free speech and all that, but this is really offensive.
BTW The bloke in the picture at top seems to be missing, along with almost the entire Parliament. Has anyone seen them?
Now he is denying everything and has scrubbed his entire website. It would help One Nation to back up their claim to represent “ordinary Australians” if they could manage to find one candidate who’s not bat-shit crazy.
Hear, Hear J.O’H.
I’ll give you one! Culleton! Ok scrub that. I’ll give you another one…….(sounds of crickets). Ok JOH you win……😩
Oh, and ‘lol’. Maybe even ‘roflmao’
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-13/lnp-mp-steve-dickson-defects-to-one-nation/8180502
As much as I hate to admit it Wraith, they will do well in Qld.
So Chobo says it wasnt pleasure, it was business. Oh, and also he sort of has a profile to maintain, at the expense of the public purse.
Anyone remember the days of being able to claim a business lunch as a tax deduction? Anyone? I can. And then the government said we were sucking on the teat.
I understand now, you cant have grunts claiming on the public teat, there’s less room then for the true professional teat suckers. The pollies.
They should have to put in ‘expense requests’ and have every claim vetted. Maintaining Chobo’s profile is not something I think we should have to pay for, or footy matches, or holiday flights, or hotels, or meals, especially as they say we cant afford doctors.
I have to stop gritting my teeth its going to cost me dentist time!
I see the mad woman has picked up an LNP member. Anyone supporting the hansonites and leyonhjelm’s really are regressive, talk about degeneration.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/david-leyonhjelm-and-pauline-hanson-couldnt-be-more-wrong-about-childcare-20170112-gtpyx9.html
Bella, at least someone is paying attention as the government are turn a blind eye.
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-accused-of-turning-a-blind-eye-to-japans-whale-hunt-20170113-gtqu9x.html
Can’t say I was traumatised by wearing a school uniform.
Some women have too much spare time on their hands MtK.
It’s a silly over the top whine about nothing much.
cloudy with a chance of chaos…
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/euro-may-not-exist-in-10-years-frances-macron-says
Friedman predicted back in 1997 that the Euro might pull the EU apart: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/the-euro–monetary-unity-to-political-disunity