Speaker under pressure after claiming more than $5,000 for chartered flights between Melbourne and Geelong last November

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, has signalled she has no intention of resigning after an expenses scandal raised questions about her future presiding over the Australian parliament.

Labor wrote to the Australian federal police on Friday to ask them to look into Bishop’s decision to take a taxpayer-funded helicopter trip from Melbourne to Geelong.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, intensified the political pressure by calling on on the prime minister, Tony Abbott, to say whether he continued to have confidence in the Speaker, describing it as “a test of his leadership”.

The opposition wants Bishop to release the form she signed to claim $5,227.27 for chartered flights from Melbourne to Geelong and back on 5 November 2014.

A spokesman for Bishop declined on Friday to clarify the details of the form the Speaker filled in, but defended her conduct.

“The Speaker’s not going to make any more comment until the police have considered the referral and she stands by her previous statement,” the spokesman said.

Asked if Bishop intended to resign, he told Guardian Australia: “Certainly not.”

She also did not intend to stand down while the AFP considered the matter.

The Speaker announced on Thursday she would repay the charter flight money even though she maintained her belief the travel “was conducted within the rules”.



Bronwyn Bishop moves quickly to calm expenses storm but questions remain Read more

But the Labor MP Pat Conroy wrote to the AFP on Friday to ask it to investigate the issue “as a priority”.

“Parliamentary entitlements are only permitted to be used for official purposes,” Conroy wrote. “Parliamentarians have previously been prosecuted for fraud for deliberately misusing their entitlements.”



The letter points to a standard government form for charter certification for parliament’s presiding officers that says “office holders may use charter transport (including aircraft, helicopters and other vehicles) for their personal transport in connection with their office holder duties”.



According to that form, the office holder must certify that “knowingly giving false or misleading information is a serious offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995” and that they “travelled on the charter and it was provided for official purposes”.

Conroy said media reports indicated the helicopter flight was to attend a fundraiser for Ron Nelson, a Liberal candidate in the Victorian state election.



The leader of opposition business, Tony Burke, said the AFP should “investigate what Bronwyn Bishop is currently trying to hide”.



“If there is a reasonable explanation, then Bronwyn Bishop should give it to the Australian people, and she should provide it to the Australian federal police,” Burke said.

Joe Hockey says Bronwyn Bishop's $5,000 helicopter trip doesn't pass 'sniff test' Read more

“But if Bronwyn Bishop is claiming that part of the official purposes of being Speaker of the House of Representatives is to attend a Liberal Party fundraiser, then we all know she’s wrong and if she has claimed that on this form, then she has done so knowing the serious criminal consequences that will follow.

“I say to Bronwyn Bishop, if you’ve got nothing to hide, release the document, release it to the public, release it to the police. The Australian people believe that this one is completely beyond a joke. This is a born to rule attitude gone absolutely mad.”

Guardian Australia wrote to Bishop’s office early on Friday to ask which form she signed, whether she would release it, and how the event in Geelong was consistent with her office-holder duties. Her spokesman declined to respond to the specific questions, citing the AFP’s consideration of the referral.

Comment was also sought from Abbott’s office about whether Bishop should remain in her position or stand aside until the matters are resolved. But the prime minister’s office did not respond to the email or follow-up calls and text messages.



Shorten said the elevation of Bishop to the Speaker’s chair “was one of Tony Abbott’s most famous captain’s calls”.

“She was his personal choice and her conduct as Speaker is entirely his responsibility,” Shorten said in a statement.

“It’s time for Tony Abbott to say if he continues to have confidence in Bronwyn Bishop as Speaker – this is a test of his leadership.”

Bishop was due to join the Senate president, Stephen Parry, and other dignitaries at an MH17 memorial event in Canberra on Friday but did not attend.

The leader of the house, Christopher Pyne, tweeted: “Awful on the day we remember the anniversary of the destruction of MH17 that Labor wants to play politics over the speakership.”



The AFP pursued a previous speaker, Peter Slipper, over his use of taxi vouchers to visit wineries outside Canberra in 2010.



In 2014 a magistrate convicted Slipper of dishonestly causing a risk of loss to the commonwealth and ordered him to repay the $954.



But Slipper won a legal battle to overturn the conviction in February 2015. In doing so, the Australian Capital Territory supreme court highlighted considerable uncertainty over the definition of parliamentary business.

Slipper repeatedly argued he was a victim of double standards given other MPs had been allowed to repay expenses under the Minchin Protocol.

When sexual harassment and entitlement misuse claims were levelled at Slipper in April 2010, Abbott called on the then prime minister, Julia Gillard, to ensure the Speaker stood down and also called for an AFP investigation.



“It is untenable that a member of parliament facing serious allegations of sexual harassment and criminal misuse of entitlements should hold one of the most senior positions in the Australian parliament,” Abbott, who was opposition leader, said at the time.



“In the same way that ministers in the past have been stood down from the ministry while matters were being investigated, the prime minister must ensure that the Speaker stand aside until this matter is resolved.”

