David Arthur Gillespie of Wauchope entered the Australian Parliament in 2013 as a National Party Member of the House of Representatives representing the Lyne electorate, with an annual salary many of his constituents can only dream about.
He is quite literally a man of property – aside from his house and farm he owns four commercial and residential investment properties, which appear to be snugly sitting in one or more family trusts along with a portfolio of shares.
His total parliamentary entitlements expenditure paid by the Department of Finance was $65,512.97 in 2013, $399,946.31 in 2014, $339,797.06 in 2015 and $381,651 in 2016.
Yet two years ago he caught the greed bug and wanted more, more, more………..
ABC News, 2 December 2017:
The Prime Minister's Department has lost a two-year fight to conceal a minister's bid for thousands of dollars in extra pollie-perks, including charter flights and boat rides.
Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop's taxpayer-funded helicopter ride sparked an inquiry into politicians' entitlements.
Most MPs and senators' submissions were publicly released, but bureaucrats decided to hide Nationals MP David Gillespie's proposal.
After a lengthy freedom of information (FOI) battle, the ABC can reveal Dr Gillespie argued politicians in seats like his should annually be given:
* Nearly $15,000 extra "charter allowance" for charter flights, hire cars, boat rides or taxis
* 14 days more travel allowance for overnight stays within the electorate
* An additional office
* One more full-time employee
Dr Gillespie is the member for Lyne on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
He argued the boost would help meet "the significant logistical challenges that confront all rural MPs in meeting the needs and expectations of their constituents".
"If the additional costs are $10 million, it is a small price to pay to ensure fairness within our democracy is delivered," he wrote in the October 2015 submission.
Dr Gillespie wanted extra expenses for all electorates 10,000 square kilometres or larger.
The Assistant Health Minister's seat is about 16,000 square kilometres in size, and includes towns of Taree and Wauchope.
If implemented today, 24 Coalition MPs would benefit, along with six Labor members and two independents.
Electorates 100,000 square kilometres or larger would have received an even bigger windfall under the blueprint.
But the Government has only partly adopted one of his ideas by funding an extra office in Australia's seven biggest electorates — a group of seats that does not include Lyne.
I’m sure David Gillespie is as pleased with mainstream media outing this attempted cash grab as he was when they reported this……
The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 October 2017:
A Turnbull government minister is facing up to $500,000 in personal legal bills to defend his job against a Labor High Court challenge.
While the government is covering the costs of the seven federal politicians referred to the court over their citizenship status, the eighth MP facing constitutional eligibility questions is not getting the same assistance.
Labor is challenging Assistant Health Minister David Gillespie's right to stay on in Federal Parliament, putting the government's slender majority at risk, because it believes he may have an indirect financial interest in the Commonwealth – grounds for disqualification under section 44(v) of the constitution.
As revealed by Fairfax Media in February, the Nationals MP owns a small suburban shopping complex in Port Macquarie and one of the shops is an outlet of Australia Post – a government-owned corporation.
The Lighthouse Beach Australia Post outlet in Port Macquarie owned by Nationals MP David Gillespie.
Photo: Peter Daniels
Alley v Gillespie [2017] HCA is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday,12 December 2017 by High Court of Australia.
No comments:
Post a Comment