The trade minister, Steven Ciobo, has given a spirited defence of politicians charging taxpayers to attend major sports events, declaring they are work-related expenses because they allow businesses and other organisations to “showcase themselves”.

After the health minister, Sussan Ley, stood aside on Monday pending an investigation of her decision to purchase a $795,000 Gold Coast apartment on a taxpayer-funded trip, attention has focused on politicians charging to attend events including New Year’s Eve parties and major sporting events.

These have included the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, charging to attend a polo event on the Mornington Peninsula and two government ministers and a Coalition senator attending the 2013 AFL grand final.

Asked on ABC’s AM on Friday why he had charged taxpayers $1,000 for an airfare to attend the grand final, Ciobo said: “The matter of principle in relation to this is: should work expenses be claimed for a work-related activity?”

Ciobo said he used a taxpayer-funded vehicle to go to games in his own electorate, because “people expect that”.

“I can certainly say as an Australian that I would love to see, for example, Australia’s prime minister – and I don’t care whether it’s Liberal or Labor – at a key game ... between the Wallabies and the All Blacks.

“So, I’m sorry but the reason I was invited isn’t because I am Steve Ciobo. I was invited because I am the trade minister and at that time in fact I was the parliamentary secretary to the treasurer.”

Ciobo was gifted a ticket and hospitality at the 2013 grand final by the National Australia Bank.

Ciobo said businesses and other organisations who invited politicians were “taking the opportunity to showcase themselves there, to take the time to have a conversation in relation to important matters”.

“Absolutely [it] is work-related and that’s the reason why.”

On Monday the acting special minister of state, Kelly O’Dwyer, said the Turnbull government would implement the recommendations from last year’s review of the expenses system, including clarifying what constitutes “official business”.

On Friday the independent MP Andrew Wilkie called for a larger overhaul including higher penalties for improper expense claims.

He told ABC TV federal police should be called in “when there’s wrongdoing” rather than simply allowing politicians to pay the money back.

“And also [there should be] a fairly simple requirement that parliamentarians be required to list on their allowance claim form, which is made available publicly, all of the substantive activity, both public and private, that they conduct on a trip.”

Wilkie said the government’s promise to implement the 36 recommendations was “pretty worthless” because it had promised the same thing last March but “virtually none” had been implemented so far.



On Thursday, the ABC reported that Bishop had claimed a total of $11,000 to attend five events including Derby day, Portsea polo, the Melbourne Cup and the rugby. Bishop listed travel to the events as for “official ministerial business”.

She reportedly attended marquees on Derby day and Melbourne Cup day as guests of an airline company and an alcohol company.

In a statement, Bishop said: “The minister was invited and attended in her official capacity as minister for foreign affairs and deputy leader of the Liberal party.”

Wilkie said the test for expense claims should be whether a trip is “substantially to do with a private matter”.

He said claiming a trip to buy an expensive investment property, attend a New Year’s Eve party, the polo or “a mate’s wedding” was not reasonable.