Government defends use of RAAF jet to fly MPs and families to Canberra for opening of new Parliament

Updated

The Federal Government has defended the use of an RAAF jet to fly West Australian MPs and their family members to Canberra for the opening of Parliament.

The 44th Parliament will be officially opened tomorrow by Governor-General Quentin Bryce in a day of pomp and ceremony.

Yesterday, WA-based ministers, backbenchers, spouses and their children flew out of Perth bound for Canberra on one of the Government's 737 Boeing business jets.

The West Australian newspaper has reported that the fuel costs alone for the VIP flight will be more than $30,000.

But Leader of the House Christopher Pyne has defended the flight.

"It's probably cheaper than bringing them all individually on Qantas or Virgin," he said, while waiting for his own Adelaide-based family to arrive at Canberra Airport on a commercial flight.

Liberal MPs Don Randall and Steve Irons, who have both had to repay thousands of dollars in travel entitlements, were on the RAAF plane.

They made the trip the day after the Government moved to tackle the irksome issue of MP entitlements, by announcing new guidelines.

A spokeswoman for Defence Minister David Johnston says the flight was made "in accordance with commonwealth guidelines" and departed Perth after the last direct commercial flight to Canberra.

She said MPs from both major parties have used the VIP jet from WA at the beginning of a sitting week for many years.

Australia's wealthiest MP, the mining billionaire Clive Palmer, arrived in Canberra on a commercial flight to take up his seat in Parliament as the member for Fairfax this morning.

He has taken a swipe at those MPs who have had to pay back entitlements claims.

"I don't think I'll be claiming too much because I don't want to end up in the murky cesspool that's been shown everywhere really in Canberra," he said.

Later today, federal politicians will hold strategy meetings in Canberra to gear up for the first sittings of the new Parliament.

Tomorrow's opening will feature a welcome to country on the Parliament House forecourt, the official swearings-in of MPs and the election of a new Speaker.

Opening day to be dominated by carbon tax repeal bill

Wednesday will be the first business-as-usual sitting for the Parliament and is expected to be dominated by the introduction of the Abbott Government's bill to repeal the carbon pricing scheme.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott last night released a pre-recorded message holding a copy of the repeal legislation he would like to see passed by Christmas.

"You've already voted on the carbon tax but now it's the Parliament's turn," he said.

"This is my bill to reduce your bills."

"This is the first big job of the new Parliament and I want to assure you, as far as the Government is concerned, it will happen."

But the Labor Caucus is expected to endorse the shadow cabinet's decision to reject the bill unless the Government agrees to introduce an emissions trading scheme.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the Government's alternative policy to tackle climate change is "silly".

"They've got this silly policy of direct action, which is just paying big polluters to pollute," he told Insiders yesterday.

"We're not going to have a bar of that."

Yesterday, former prime minister Julia Gillard used a speech in Melbourne to urge the new Government to keep the carbon price.

Bronwyn Bishop tipped to be elected speaker

As a first order of business, MPs must also elect a new speaker of the House of Representatives, set to be Mr Abbott's nominee - veteran Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop.

Ms Bishop entered Parliament as a senator in 1987 and switched to the Lower House in a by-election for the Sydney seat of Mackellar in 1994.

She served in the Howard government as minister for defence, industry, science and personnel and as aged care minister between 1998 and 2001.

Although once touted as a future prime minister, Ms Bishop's time handling the aged care portfolio was tainted by scandal, after residents of a Melbourne nursing home were bathed in kerosene in 2000.

Mr Abbott's admiration for Ms Bishop is long-standing; he once described himself as the "ideological love-child of John Howard and Bronwyn Bishop".

New MPs have undergone orientation

Forty-one newly elected members of the House of Representatives last month underwent an orientation week to learn about the procedural and administrative aspects of their new jobs.

Clive Palmer did not attend the orientation as he had not yet been confirmed as the new MP for the seat of Fairfax.

Current Speaker of the House, Labor's Anna Burke, congratulated the "very select group of Australians" who now have the right to "sit on the big green seats".

"Only 1,133 people have been elected to the House of Representatives since Federation. Think about that," she said.

"I'm going to be a little controversial, of course - a lot less of that group were females, so if you're a female elected, feel even doubly proud."

Ms Burke warned the MPs of the constant public scrutiny and demands of their new roles, and told them "one of the things you need to look after, first and foremost, is yourself".

She also advised them of some of the "weird and wonderful things" they need to think about, such as what to wear in the chamber.

"I did get a whole lot of cross emails from a speaker once when I turned up in a t-shirt. It was a really nice t-shirt, cost me a lot," she quipped.

"But apparently it wasn't business attire."

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Anna Burke welcomes new MPs to Parliament (ABC News)

Topics: federal-parliament, federal-government, parliament, government-and-politics, australia, wa, canberra-2600

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