The Libs won't, that's for sure.
Some Labor pollies have been guilty of gilding the lily when it comes to travel entitlement claims, but fingers have been pointed only at one or two. The Libs, on the other hand, have taken it to an art form.
Don Randall is a household name by now, as the man who claimed $5,000 in travel expenses for him and his wife to fly from his electorate in W.A. to Cairns on "electoral business". Turned out he bought a block of land there. Two weeks after the story surfaced, we're told by Mr Abbott that he flew to Cairns for urgent discussions with the Coalition Whip. About what? That's a secret, says Abbott. Yeah, right.
Already a number of LNP ministers have repaid sums they claimed for attending various weddings, but the biggest rorter of all turns out to be good ol' Tone himself. A total of $50,000 to take his wife and one of his daughters to various race meetings around the country, flying by specially chartered aircraft. And the ugliest of all - charging the taxpayers when he takes part in his ironman competitions and charity cycling events. Every mile, every hotel bill, we have paid for. And he refuses to pay back one cent.
And to make it even uglier, this is the party that's hounded Peter Slipper for claiming $900 on cab fares to attend a wine-tasting. Of course Slipper shouldn't have claimed it, but unlike the Libs, they've refused to let him just pay it back, but instead have had the Federal Police charge him. The same Federal Police who won't even look at the charges that are being levelled against Abbott and his cronies.
Big silence from Bill Shorten (oh, how we need Albo right now!), but at last, a good article from the Hobart Mercury about the sense of entitlement of the LNP, and the partisanship of the AFP.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/time-to-end-double-standard/story-fnj4f64i-1226747972553?sv=df01637c710f60e82a5d4c5363ca1997#.Um280N6xhlI.twitter
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