Opposition MP Tony Burke is perhaps best known as the politician who led the prosecution against Bronwyn Bishop, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who resigned following intense scrutiny over her misuse of taxpayer money.
However, Burke is now himself the latest politician to face scrutiny over his alleged misuse of taxpayer cash. According to The Daily Telegraph, Burke claimed expenses for a Robbie Williams concert last year.
Burke also reportedly accepted free tickets to a 2011 performance from teen idol and recidivist delinquent Justin Bieber and admission to the Byron Bay Blues festival. What’s that saying about glass houses and stones again?
However, as The Herald Sun reports, Burke insists he hasn’t done anything wrong. The then-environment minister claimed he had to travel to the Williams concert because he had to meet with the concert’s promoter as part of his official business as opposition MP.
Burke received free tickets from iconic Aussie concert promoter Michael Chugg for the Williams show in Sydney on 28th September last year and travelled in a COMCAR for a meeting prior to the concert, which he charged back to taxpayers. It’s understood the fare was about $90.
As far as Burke’s concerned, the allegations only emerged because he publicly declared them in accordance with parliamentary entitlement rules which are now being reviewed. “There is no allegation that I have broken any of the rules at any point,” he wrote in a statement.
Statement from Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke #auspol #choppergate pic.twitter.com/6PULsGVC7w
— Political Alert (@political_alert) August 4, 2015
But government frontbencher Josh Frydenberg says Burke is holding coalition MPs to one standard and himself to another. “Tony Burke’s a hypocrite,” he told Sky News. “Next he will tell us he has portfolio responsibilities for shadowing Kim Kardashian.”
In his statement issued this morning, Mr Burke insisted “my criticism of Bronwyn Bishop was that she had broken the rules” and “The information provided in these articles is public because I made declarations in accordance with the rules”.
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As ABC News notes, these aren’t the only questionable purchases Burke made on the taxpayer’s dime. The MP also charged taxpayers more than $12,000 for a trip to Uluru with his family, a trip he also claimed was business related.
Burke’s office said the visit to Central Australia involved official business, including meetings with managers and rangers at the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park and members of the nearby Aboriginal community of Mutitjulu.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail reports Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young reportedly claimed $2,700 in travel expenses during the weekend of 2013 Mardi Gras, expenses her office say were part of her duties as the party’s spokesperson on gay issues.
One prominent politician who’s remaining tight-lipped about the situation is the Prime Minister, who said during an Adelaide media event, “On particular members of Parliament and whether particular spending was good, bad or indifferent, I just want to say the important thing is to get the rules right.”
