Tony Abbott rules out review of Minchin protocol on expenses
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Version 0 of 1. The prime minister has ruled out a review of the Minchin protocol, which allows MPs to pay back incorrectly claimed expenses without a timeframe, multiple times and with no consequence. The protocol was introduced in 1998 and allows MPs and senators who have incorrectly claimed expenses to pay them back with no disciplinary action being taken. There is no limit on the number of times politicians can incorrectly claim expenses with no consequence and there is no timeframe on when they have to be repaid. The new government is reviewing and rewriting the minister’s code of conduct but when asked if it would include a review of the Minchin protocol – which has not been reviewed since it was introduced – Tony Abbott’s office said there were no plans to. His position seems to be supported by his Labor counterparts, with the interim leader, Chris Bowen, and leadership hopefuls Anthony Albanese and Bill Shorten refusing to directly comment on whether the protocol should be reviewed. The Minchin protocol reared its head most recently when the attorney general, George Brandis, and the agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, paid back expenses relating to a wedding they attended two years ago where Joyce read out a poem and Brandis “tore up the dance floor”, according to the groom. The pair paid back the money last week after Fairfax Media reported their claims, although they maintain their attendance at the wedding was work-related. The former Speaker Peter Slipper is facing a court case for allegedly incorrectly claiming $900 worth of Cabcharges which he offered to repay to the Department of Finance. Although he denies the charges and that the Cabcharges were incorrectly used, Slipper was unable to use the Minchin protocol as an unidentified person referred the matter to the Australian federal police before he could repay the money. He had previously repaid about $14,000 of incorrectly claimed expenses. “There are no immediate plans to review the Minchin protocol,” a spokesman for Abbott told Guardian Australia. When asked if Bowen supported a review of the protocol, his spokesman referred Guardian Australia to a press conference transcript. In the transcript Bowen does not refer to the Minchin protocol at all, or the practice of repaying expenses, but instead talks about the publications allowance Brandis used to buy about $13,000 worth of books over three years. Brandis made the claims within the guidelines and Bowen said in the transcript he was unaware books could be claimed. It was not relevant to the protocol. Shorten’s spokeswoman referred Guardian Australia to an Insiders episode in which Shorten attacked Brandis for claiming expenses to go to a wedding. “I think there should be an investigation,” he said. “It is not normal to say that the reason why you get the taxpayer to support you to go to a wedding is so that you can network with journalists.” Shorten did not address the Minchin protocol either. Albanese’s office did not respond to a request for his views on the protocol. The Minchin protocol has been used by both sides of politics to pay back incorrectly claimed expenses. Abbott paid back $9,400 worth of expenses he claimed while promoting his book Battlelines and former prime minister Julia Gillard repaid $4,000 after her partner, Tim Mathieson, used a commonwealth car to run his business in 2007. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |