Clifton Hill branch president Antony Moore has seized on that apparent offer to appear at Labor events, writing that his branch had read "with great pleasure" that she was available to talk to interested groups about the Parliament. Speaker Bronwyn Bishop is under pressure over a string of revelations about her spending. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The branch holds three forums a year where a guest speaker, who did not have to be from the ALP, speaks. It is currently planning its next event. "We would like to invite you to be our guest speaker on the topic 'What role will the Westminster system play in an Australian Republic?'" "We do not normally charge for these events but upon reading that you are available for fundraisers we thought we would make our next event a fundraiser.

"The event can take place at a time and date of your choosing but the sooner the better." The Department of Finance is investigating that helicopter flight and two other flights to the NSW towns of Nowra and Young. Mrs Bishop has also faced questions about an $88,000 two-week trip to Europe. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Tuesday that he expected "no errors in the future like the sorts of errors that we have seen in the not too distant past" from the Speaker, who he has placed "on probation".

Mr Moore told Fairfax Media he was hopeful Mrs Bishop would attend, but said the branch may have to look at a larger venue than the back room at Clifton Hill's Royal Hotel to accommodate an anticipated surge in RSVPs. The event can take place at a time and date of your choosing but the sooner the better "We took her at her word when she said that she was willing to speak to all sorts of different groups, including Labor Party functions," he said. "We haven't heard back from her yet, but we are hopeful. To be fair to Mrs Bishop, we only emailed her yesterday. "I hope and imagine we will get a big turnout, it would be the first time I imagine the Speaker would have addressed a Labor function."

A spokesman for Ms Bishop declined to comment directly on the invitation, saying only that "I'm more than happy for you to keep bashing up on us, but today is a day for the Speaker to be doing what she can [for deceased MP Don Randall]." Meanwhile, a Queensland Liberal senator has written to all 41 members of Mr Abbott's ministry calling for all spending by government departments to be published. Senator James McGrath also wants an online transparency portal to be established so taxpayers can scrutinise government spending and for greater care to be taken in spending taxpayer funds. "I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this initiative and other ways that programs within your portfolio can better deliver smaller government for Australians," he wrote to the ministerial team. "A transparency portal would provide a powerful incentive for government departments to be more efficient because greater transparency and accountability would enable every Australian taxpayer to be an auditor and judge of wasteful government spending.

"As a result, we would see a reduction in waste and a fall in government expenditure." The transparency portal would be similar to systems in place in the UK and USA. The Department of Finance already publishes details of politicians spending on entitlements and flights, but the portal would potentially provide greater scrutiny. Follow us on Twitter Follow James Massola on Facebook