Mr Randall said in a statement that these were purchased "as gifts for community groups and schools in my electorate". A long way from Perth or Canberra: The Randalls' Cairns investment property. In November 2012 the West Australian MP and a family member flew to Cairns for an overnight stay. Mr Randall claimed the $5259 trip was “electorate business”, despite it being 3446 kilometres from his electorate of Canning. A week after returning from Cairns, on November 26, Mr Randall updated his pecuniary interests register, saying: “My wife and I have taken possession of the house at the Cairns location. We intend to rent the house as an investment.” The pair, who own three properties, bought land in the Cairns suburb of Trinity Park in 2007 for $148,000 but only began building on the property in mid-2012. The four-bedroom house is rented out for $410 a week.

Fairfax Media gave Mr Randall the opportunity to explain how his trip to Cairns involved any legitimate "electorate business" but in a statement he released 36 hours after Fairfax first contacted him he he declined to give a full explanation. He also failed to deny the trip was associated with his investment property. Inside Don Randall's Cairns investment property. Credit:Ross Duncan A Department of Finance spokeswoman said the rules around “electorate business” were “purpose-based not definition-based”, adding that parliamentarians “may claim travel related to electorate business that is not confined to their geographic electorate”. Two months before his Cairns trip, on Saturday, September 15, Mr Randall and a family member flew to Melbourne and claimed $371 travelling allowance for an overnight stay. The reason for the trip was “sittings of parliament”. Member for Canning: Don Randall.

Mr Randall then flew from Melbourne to Canberra for the start of the sitting week, while his family member took a return flight to Perth. The trip cost taxpayers $5300. Asked how Mr Randall could justify billing taxpayers for “sittings of Parliament” when he was in Melbourne on a Saturday, a spokeswoman declined to comment. My wife and I have taken possession of the house at the Cairns location. We intend to rent the house as an investment On another trip, this time an “overseas study” tour to Sri Lanka in October 2012, Mr Randall billed taxpayers $2135 for mobile phone calls made while overseas. Mr Randall's study tour, which he took with his wife, cost taxpayers $28,408. Mr Randall, who often laments "government waste”, has spent thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money over the past two years on books about sport, cooking and music.

Taxpayer-funded purchases include Broadway Musicals Show by Show, numerous copies of the Guinness World Records, cooking books including The Australian Women’s Weekly Cooking School for Kids, and a children's encyclopaedia on animals. Some books were purchased multiple times, raising the question of whether they were bought as gifts. In his statement released on Wednesday, 36 hours after he was first asked about the expense claims, Mr Randall denied any wrongdoing. “I have checked the claims reported today," Mr Randall said.

"In relation to the purchase of books, these were under entitlement and were purchased as gifts for community groups and schools in my electorate. "The claims relating to travel were appropriately acquitted with the Department of Finance," he said. Fairfax has asked Mr Randall's office which schools and community groups received the gifts, and whether the MP had any explanation for the Cairns and Melbourne trips. Mr Randall’s questionable expenses were discovered by readers who took part in Fairfax Media's crowd-sourced investigation into politicians’ entitlements. It follows a series of Fairfax Media stories which have revealed that a quarter of the Coalition frontbench, including Prime Minister Tony Abbott, have claimed a total of about $16,000 worth of taxpayer funds to attend weddings. About a quarter of this money has been refunded following exposure in the media.

Meanwhile, South Australian Labor senator Don Farrell has admitted he repaid almost $1000 in travel allowances several months ago after billing taxpayers for accommodation he accepted for free. Mr Farrell blamed an "administration error" for the trip to last year's AFL Grand Final. The senator’s flights and accommodation were in fact paid for by a grocery company. “I initiated the repayment,” Mr Farrell said, adding that “it wasn’t the work of investigative journalism” that led him to it. Loading “I repaid the money when I realised it had been a taxpayer claim.”

This story was sparked by a reader tip-off.

Help Fairfax Media continue its investigation into politicians' expenses here.

Email: expenses@fairfaxmedia.com.au