She will also pay an extra 25 per cent fine, meaning she will be about $1300 out of pocket. The fines were introduced by the Abbott government in 2013. Speaker Bronwyn Bishop. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The veteran Liberal MP came under intense fire after her latest expense report revealed she chartered the chopper to travel the short distance from Melbourne to Geelong to attend a party fundraising event at a golf club last November. Even MPs on her own side of politics started distancing themselves from her on Thursday, with Treasurer Joe Hockey agreeing the chopper charter was "not a good look" and agreeing it did not pass the "sniff test". Mr Hockey was also asked how Mrs Bishop came to spend almost $300,000 on overseas trips in one year.

"I don't know, to be brutally honest. I think the Speaker needs to explain the matter," he said. But Mrs Bishop is yet to offer any such explanation. Fairfax Media revealed Mrs Bishop spent more on overseas travel in a 12-month period than any of her recent predecessors - Anna Burke, Peter Slipper and Harry Jenkins. She spent $178,000 on four major trips in the first half of 2014 and $131,000 on two trips in the latter half - $309,000 in total. The final of Mrs Bishop's 2014 trips - to Italy, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland - has stirred particular controversy because it was partly aimed at securing her a prestigious international job with the Inter-Parliamentary Union. She lost the vote to Bangladesh's candidate, but not before racking up $88,084 in expenses.

She and two staff members spent $25,400 on accommodation and food, $42,400 on airfares and almost $14,000 on ground transport over the fortnight. They also pocketed about $6000 in advances and for minor and related expenses. Her spending dwarfed that of her fellow delegates but her office has defended the costs. Labor is calling on her to justify her "extravagance". "Families on low incomes are being slugged so Bronwyn Bishop can swan around Europe drinking champagne and eating caviar?" Labor's waste spokesman Pat Conroy said. Mr Hockey would not go so far as to say Mrs Bishop should pay that money back, but likened her campaign to represent Australia internationally to the importance of the Australian cricket team representing the nation overseas.

"When we're part of international organisations, no matter what they are, it is good for Australia to take a leadership role." He said Parliament did not "micro-manage" the global budget for such trips, saying it was important to protect the Speaker's independence. In 2012, when in opposition, the Coalition called for former Speaker Peter Slipper to resign after he was accused of misusing $900 in Cabcharge vouchers for three taxi trips. Mr Slipper complained that other politicians had been allowed to pay back inappropriate entitlements while he faced court for his. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten earlier described the helicopter ride as "colossally arrogant" and an "egregious abuse of entitlements".

In a rare public intervention, former Speaker Harry Jenkins said the chopper flight was a "ludicrous" expense and stressed the need for the Speaker to be impartial. The well-regarded Mr Jenkins, who frustrated his own side at times because of his impartiality while in the chair from 2007 to 2011, told Fairfax Media that Speakers should be very careful to maintain an even hand. Mrs Bishop is regularly criticised for being overly partisan and heavy-handed, having ejected a record 400 MPs from Parliament, including 393 from the Labor Party. She has also been criticised for attending Liberal Party room meetings, a practice both Mr Jenkins and Ms Burke disavowed while in the chair. "Of course I never shied away from the fact that I was and am a proud member of the ALP but once taking the position of Speaker, I realise there were other considerations to take into account when I undertook the role of Speaker," Mr Jenkins said.

"Perhaps I have the advantage, as a Victorian, of understanding just how ludicrous that proposition [the flight] would appear." With James Massola and Jane Lee Follow us on Twitter