Choo last year collaborated with Australian Indigenous artist Peter Farmer for a new line of couture shoes featuring striking Aboriginal artwork. Jimmy Choo shoes with Peter Farmer's Aboriginal artwork. Mr Farmer has said there are only a handful of pairs in the world bearing his Aboriginal artwork, with estimates they could each be worth as much as $25,000. It is not clear whether Grand Master Lineage gave Ms Bishop these shoes, or a less expensive pair. Ms Bishop would not answer whether the shoes she disclosed in March were created by Mr Farmer. Fairfax Media could not find any Jimmy Choo Aboriginal print shoes for sale on high-end Chinese or Western websites. At his old label, a standard pair of factory Jimmy Choo pumps retail anywhere between $850 to $3495.

Under a gift policy, federal ministers are allowed to keep gifts from private sources in the course of official business provided it is worth less than $300. But if the gift is worth more, the minister must "buy" it by paying the difference between the $300 threshold and its commercial value. The minister must complete a form, attach evidence of the gift's value, and enclose a personal cheque or money order to the Collector of Public Monies. Evidence provided to the Senate suggests Ms Bishop has not paid any difference in the value of the Aboriginal print shoes and the $300 limit. "The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has no record of the above items being declared as official gifts over the allowable limit," a recent estimates document notes. "Declarations of official gifts that are over the allowable limit are a matter for individual ministers."

Asked for evidence of the value of the shoes, what steps had been taken to establish their value, and to provide any proof of payment, a spokeswoman for Ms Bishop said: "Julie Bishop MP has complied with the requirements of the register of members' interests." Fashion designer Jimmy Choo. Credit: The rules governing the register of interests, which require MPs to disclose financial interests and gifts, are separate to the ministerial gift rules which lay out the $300 threshold. Records show former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull repeatedly paid for gifts he received, including $800 to keep an APEC scarf and nearly $2000 to retain a hand-made silk carpet he was given from the President of Afghanistan. He also paid $600 to keep gold earrings gifted to him by US President Donald Trump. Former international development minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells also paid more than $1200 to keep a silk carpet given to her by the Australia-Azerbaijan parliamentary friendship group.

Ms Bishop went to the backbench after the Liberal Party leadership spill in August. Earlier this year, she declined to explain whether she had paid for jewellery designed by friend and Liberal party donor Margot McKinney, estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ms Bishop has never said if she owns or borrows the jewellery, which features prominently on her Instagram account and is then reposted for promotional purposes by the designer. A Fairfax Media freedom of information request relating to any gifts Ms Bishop has paid for was deemed "fully exempt" from public disclosure. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video