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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/06/sussan-ley-bought-apartment-impulse-taxpayer-funded-trip
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Sussan Ley bought $795,000 flat on impulse on taxpayer-funded trip | Sussan Ley bought $795,000 flat on impulse on taxpayer-funded trip |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Health minister Sussan Ley is under fire for buying a $795,000 apartment while on a taxpayer-funded trip to the Gold Coast. | |
| Ley said she had not “not planned nor anticipated” to buy the apartment. | |
| Government documents show Ley travelled from Sydney to Brisbane on 9 May 2015, where she announced at Wesley Hospital $1.3bn in funding to list new medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. | Government documents show Ley travelled from Sydney to Brisbane on 9 May 2015, where she announced at Wesley Hospital $1.3bn in funding to list new medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. |
| She travelled to Main Beach on the Gold Coast the same day, and bought a rental property. She and her partner then stayed the night, billing taxpayers $370 for travel allowance. | She travelled to Main Beach on the Gold Coast the same day, and bought a rental property. She and her partner then stayed the night, billing taxpayers $370 for travel allowance. |
| A spokeswoman for Ley said the minister had meetings on the Gold Coast with patients about access to new medicines, but did not say who they were. | A spokeswoman for Ley said the minister had meetings on the Gold Coast with patients about access to new medicines, but did not say who they were. |
| “The property purchase was not planned nor anticipated,” the spokeswoman said in a statement to Guardian Australia. | “The property purchase was not planned nor anticipated,” the spokeswoman said in a statement to Guardian Australia. |
| “Minister Ley’s partner was invited to accompany her to a function in Sydney on the Friday evening. He then travelled with the Minister to Queensland under family travel arrangements. | “Minister Ley’s partner was invited to accompany her to a function in Sydney on the Friday evening. He then travelled with the Minister to Queensland under family travel arrangements. |
| “The EMB (Entitlements Management Branch) was consulted at the time to confirm Ms Ley’s partner’s travel was within the rules. | “The EMB (Entitlements Management Branch) was consulted at the time to confirm Ms Ley’s partner’s travel was within the rules. |
| “All travel undertaken was in accordance with the rules.” | “All travel undertaken was in accordance with the rules.” |
| A search of property records shows the apartment was listed for eight days before it was taken off the market on 9 May. | |
| Labor’s health spokeswoman, Catherine King, has demanded Ley resign if she cannot explain how purchasing a luxury apartment could be considered “official business.” | |
| “Ley’s explanation that the purchase ‘was not planned nor anticipated’ is woefully inadequate and an insult to Australians,” King said. | |
| “The Turnbull government is desperately trying to justify their savage cuts to Medicare by claiming they are living within their means. This new evidence reinforces just how empty this rhetoric really is. | |
| “Sussan Ley needs to front up today and explain to Australians how purchasing a luxury apartment is considered to be ‘official business’. | |
| “If she cannot do this, she has no choice but to resign, or Malcolm Turnbull must move her off his front bench.” | |
| Ley and her partner claimed almost $4,000 in flights between Albury, Sydney and Brisbane over 48 hours when she purchased the property, government documents show. | |
| The ministerial code of conduct prohibits the use of public office for private purposes. | The ministerial code of conduct prohibits the use of public office for private purposes. |
| Liberal frontbencher Greg Hunt defended his colleague on Friday. “I do know that Sussan is generally one of the most extraordinarily scrupulous ministers with her personal behaviour,” Hunt told 2GB Radio. | Liberal frontbencher Greg Hunt defended his colleague on Friday. “I do know that Sussan is generally one of the most extraordinarily scrupulous ministers with her personal behaviour,” Hunt told 2GB Radio. |
| Government documents show Ley has one residential property and three rental properties. | Government documents show Ley has one residential property and three rental properties. |