Following revelations about Speaker Bronwyn Bishop’s misuse of public money, the prime minister warns MPs ‘you cannot get away with exploiting the rules’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has indicated that further tightening of the parliamentary entitlements system could be on the cards following revelations about the Speaker of the House, Bronwyn Bishop, and has warned MPs that no one will “get away with exploiting the rules”.

Bishop has been under increasing pressure to resign after it emerged that she has misused public money on several occasions.

Abbott has avoided fronting the media in the past week, but on Friday morning was interviewed on Sydney talkback radio station 2SM, where he issued MPs with a warning.



“I think if there is one lesson that every single politician must have had reinforced by all of this, it is that you cannot get away with exploiting the rules,” the prime minister said. “We have already significantly tightened up the rules. We banned politicians travelling overseas first class, we’ve heavily limited family travel inside Australia and overseas, we’ve banned immediate family employment,” he said.

He flagged a further tightening of the rules.

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“A lot has happened, let’s see what might emerge out of the review that’s going on now,” Abbott said.

On Thursday morning, a contrite Bishop apologised for spending more than $5,000 of taxpayers’ money to travel between Geelong and Melbourne by helicopter for a Liberal party fundraiser.



She had already vowed to repay the money, and has asked for a wholesale review of historical expenses.

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“She is obviously deeply remorseful,” Abbott said. “This is a very chastened person indeed. The Department of Finance is reviewing all of her expenditures going back 10 years and obviously, if there is anything that is outside the rules it will be repaid instantly with penalties.”

Apart from the $5,000 for chartering a helicopter, Bishop has pledged to pay back money claimed for flights and travel allowances to attend the weddings of Liberal party colleagues Sophie Mirabella in June 2006 and Teresa Gambaro in April 2007.

The Speaker initially defended the decision to claim for the weddings, saying she had off-the-record meetings with anonymous sources concerning her work as chair of the standing committee on families and human services.

She said on Thursday that while she was acting within the guidelines by claiming the money, she acknowledged that it had eroded the public’s faith in her.

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“I’ll be paying back all expenses relating to weddings because, while technically in the rules, it just doesn’t look right,” she said.

Despite that, she vowed not to stand aside.

“I won’t be resigning,” Bishop said.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, described Bishop’s apology as “too little, too late”.

“The job is more serious than the way Ms Bishop has been treating it,” he told reporters on Friday. “There is a born-to-rule mentality in parts of Mr Abbott’s Liberals which show how out of touch they are with the expectation of Australians.”

On Thursday, Guardian Australia revealed that the Speaker had claimed 15 separate trips on the public purse relating to her role as chair of the committee in places and during times when the committee did not have any public hearings on.



A number of senior Liberals, including deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop, treasurer Joe Hockey and social services minister Scott Morrison, have publicly distanced themselves from the Speaker.

But on Friday, the leader of the House, Christopher Pyne, backed her.

“The Bronwyn Bishop issue has been going for several weeks but she has apologised. She has paid back the money. And it is time that we moved on and dealt with the big issues,” Pyne told the Nine network.

Whe asked if she would still be in the chair when parliament resumes on 10 August, Pyne answered “of course she will be”.

“I’m the leader of the House and I’m backing Bronwyn very strongly. The prime minister and I are 100% behind Bronwyn Bishop,” he said. “She is doing a great job as Speaker.”

The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, also threw his support behind Bishop, telling reporters on Friday that she has “served the Australian people well”.



Shadow transport minister Anthony Albanese said it was time for Bishop to step aside.



“An apology that has [been] got out with the crowbar is not taken seriously. What we see is like a very bad movie. This is four weddings and a political funeral,” Albanese told the Nine network. “It is in the government’s interests for her to move on.”

An online petition calling on the federal government to remove Bishop as Speaker has attracted more than 84,000 signatures.