Attorney-General George Brandis and his bravura performance as Pot-Kettle-Black

Australian Attorney-General George Brandis in opposition and government on the subject of members of parliament and honest/ethical conduct.

In Hansard 17 August 2011:

Finally, it was only yesterday, when this matter was brought to light, that the member for Dobell sought to amend his register of a member's interests by lodging with the Register of Members' Interests for the House of Representatives a letter that identified the payment of a sum of money in May 2011 by the Australian Labor Party's New South Wales branch, in settlement of a legal matter to which I was a party. Why was that amendment made only after its disclosure was revealed?

On ABC The Drum 29 August 2011:

Senator Brandis has pursed the ALP backbencher Thomson with a vigour that is disturbing on a number of levels.

Firstly, there are the telephone calls to ministers and police commissioners. Senator Brandis called New South Wales Attorney-General Greg Smith, a fellow Liberal, in early August. Smith says that Brandis was alerting him to a forthcoming media story which would reveal Brandis had asked the New South Wales DPP to look at the Thomson matter.

Then a couple of weeks later Brandis was on the phone again, this time to speak with New South Wales Police Minister Michael Gallacher to again alert him to the fact that Brandis would be sending a brief to the Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione. Gallacher himself alerted Scipione to look out for the Brandis brief.

Then there was Brandis's call to Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus last week. Brandis apparently wanted to clarify whether the AFP would be investigating the matter.

On Channel 7 Sunrise:

"Shadow Attorney-General George Brandis has provided information to police in relation to a number of matters concerning a federal Labor MP," police said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This correspondence has now been referred for internal assessment to determine whether a criminal offence has occurred."

In Hansard 5 February 2013:

Meanwhile, in the coming week there are the fraud charges against the other man upon whose vote the Gillard government depends, Mr Peter Slipper.

In The Sydney Morning Herald 23 September 2013:

he regarded the wedding as a chance to ''foster collaboration'' over Mr Smith's work covering the then prime minister and the Craig Thomson scandal

In the Herald Sun 30 September 2013:

Yesterday, Senator Brandis said he would repay the money to avoid any uncertainty about the circumstances of Mr Smith’s wedding in December 2011.

But he said he still considered he was within parliamentary entitlements to make them.

“I considered that those costs were within parliamentary entitlements, since they were incurred in the course of attendance at a function primarily for work-related purposes. I remain of that view,” he said in a letter written today to the Finance Department.

George Brandis’ July-December 2011 Parliamentarian’s Expenditure Record covering the period in which he travelled to and from the private Smith wedding at taxpayers’ expense:

                                

Domestic Travel 4 Dec 11 Brisbane Sydney 5 Dec 11 Sydney Brisbane $1,191.06

Com Car Brisbane 4 Dec 11 $82.83 Brisbane 5 Dec 11 $44.23

Hire Car Sydney 4 Dec to 5 Dec 11 $143.40

TOTAL $1,461.52

News.com.au 8 April 2013:

Mr Slipper, who stood down from the role of Speaker of the House of Representatives amid controversy last year, faces charges relating to three occasions in which he allegedly dishonestly used Cabcharge dockets to visit Canberra wineries in hire cars in 2010, amounting to $1194 in charges to the taxpayer.

It would appear that the more a member of parliament or senator owes the Department of Finance, the less likely he or she will be held accountable at law.

While the Attorney-General’s attitude seems to be that it is fraud when someone considered a political enemy makes a dubious claim for expenses over and above his/her parliamentary salary or fails to accurately record financial details, but it is perfectly alright when he or a member of his party does so. Additionally, Brandis appears to believe he is entitled to use his expense claims to hide the cost of actively pursuing such a perceived enemy.

The rules relating to parliamentarians' travel allowances/entitlements can be found here.

Federal Parliamentary allowances are clear cut

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner 10 October 2013:

Fred Perring (DEX, October 2013) quotes Malcolm Turnbull on the alleged vagueness of rules concerning travelling allowances available to federal parliamentarians.

I don't think the rules are in any way ambiguous, as is seen by Clause 3.12 of the Remuneration Tribunal's August 2012 determination:

"Travelling allowance shall be payable to a senator or member for each overnight stay in a place other than his or her home base when that stay is occasioned primarily by:

(a) sittings of the House of Parliament or direct travel to or from such sittings; or

(b) meetings of or the formal business of parliamentary committees of which he or she is a member or direct travel to or from such meetings; or

(c) attendance at functions representing a Minister or a Presiding Officer on official business as a Minister or Presiding Officer, or direct travel to or from such functions, provided the Minister or Presiding Officer nominates the function in advance in a written request to the senator or member to represent him or her; or

(d) meetings in Canberra of his or her parliamentary political party, of its executive or of its committees (see clause 1.5.2) or direct travel to or from such meetings; or

(e) meetings of his or her parliamentary political party executive (see clause 1.5.2) outside Canberra or direct travel to or from such meetings; or

(f) meetings, other than in Canberra, of a parliamentary political party, or of its executive, or of its committees, attendance at the national and state conferences of a political party, of which he or she is a member (see clause 1.5.2), and meetings outside the electorate on electorate business up to a maximum of ten overnight stays per annum in total, and direct travel to or from such meetings or conferences; or

(g) attendance at official government, parliamentary or vice-regal functions; or

(h) meetings of a non-statutory body which a senator or member has been nominated to attend by resolution of either House, where the senator or member performs duties principally as a representative or alternate representative, of the Parliament; or

(i) attendance at properly constituted meetings of a Government advisory committee or task force provided that the senator or member is a member of the committee or task force."

The Department Of Finance defines official business for the purpose of plane, train, hire car/taxi travel entitlement as attendance at: "properly constituted meetings of a Government advisory committee or task force provided that the Senator or Member is a member of the committee or task force; and functions representing a Minister or a Presiding Officer on official business as a Minister or Presiding Officer, provided that the Minister or Presiding Officer nominates the function in advance in a written request to the Senator or Member to represent him or her."

It is plain to see that there is no leeway for expenses associated with high-profile weddings, off-the-record meetings with journalists, birthday parties, winter holidays or ironman events.

Sincerely,

Judith M. Melville

Can Australian taxpayers afford Tony Abbott's sense of entitlement?

Breaking an entrenched “entitlement” mindset is far from easy

taxpayers have a right to insist that their money is not wasted

Tony Abbott

17 November 2000

31 March 2011

The Sydney Morning Herald 11 October 2013

Between 1 July 2008 and 31 December 2012

in addition to his generous parliamentary salary

the Hon. Anthony John ‘Tony’ Abbott

was paid an est. $2.87 million in member ‘entitlements’

based on requests he submitted to the

Federal Dept. of Finance

Clarence Valley Council Mayor yet to explain why he consented to award Honorary Clarence Valley Ambassador to an individual who was the subject of adverse findings in a Casino Control Authority Inquiry

Excerpts from NSW Casino Control Authority Report of Public Inquiry December 1994 pertaining to Wallace “Wal” King the current Honorary Clarence Valley Ambassador 2013:

Background:

Mayor circles wagons around 2013 Clarence Valley Ambassador Wal King

Has the shine gone off the Abbott Government so quickly?

Elected on 7 September 2013 and sworn in ten days later, the Abbott Government should still have been enjoying a political honeymoon in October.....it isn't.

Excerpts from Essential Report 9 October 2013:

:

Not happy, Minister Macfarlane!

ECHO NETDAILY 7 October 2013:

Metgasco back for revenge

Like the Black Death, Metgasco is returning to our region to teach us tree-hugging anarchists who is boss.

Still smarting from its last attempts to force coal seam gas on an unwilling population, the company is back for revenge and this time they have support.

Deep inside the führerbunker in Canberra, plans are afoot to bring us into line. We must learn that important decisions are not ours to make.

Our opinions don’t count and nor does our vote. We must learn to keep our place in the pyramid of life and accept our position as the substrata upon which more important people stand.

Imaging we have the brains to understand complex things like fracking is ridiculous. Likewise, it is folly to think we have the right to interfere with the massive, short-term gains that will be made at our expense.

Neither the government nor their corporate bum-buddies are accountable to us (or anyone) and all this talk of democracy was never intended to be taken seriously.

Letting us vote every three years while keeping us inoculated in the meantime on a healthy dose of recreational pursuits is a blessing.

We should all be grateful to have flat-screen TVs and a cold tinny to keep us happy.

When the Black Death returns, sorry Metgasco, we will be reminded that war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.

Medieval Europe eventually realised the plague was carried by rats, yet in the modern age we are rapidly learning such calamities can be transmitted by other means.

In this brave new corporate age, environmental disasters are born of silence and compliance.

R J Poole, Lismore

Yamba Triathlon Festival 2013 - Day 2 on 12 October in pictures

A brief look at a wonderful day for competitors and spectators alike. 

From the camera of Vicki James......

Just short of 550 competitors took part in the Yamba Triathlon at the weekend and CEO of Elite Energy Mark Emerton said they'd be back for more next year.... the organiser said Yamba was the "perfect place for an event like this". With a boost to the local economy and another event to add to the yearly calendar, the Yamba triathlon is here to stay..... Mark Emerton said he was overwhelmed by how much support both the event and the competitors received. "All the little cafes had posters in their windows," Emerton said. "And then when we went through Wooloweyah, people were all out on the picnic tables to show their support. "That is the sort of stuff that really makes an event. "The athletes are happy, the community was patient, and that just makes it all work well." [The Daily Examiner 14 October 2013]