A Turnbull government MP who charged taxpayers for flights to his own wedding has reported spending nearly $2000 for his wife to travel to a golf tournament in Queensland.
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Western Australian Liberal MP Steve Irons said he attended the December 2015 Australian PGA event on the Gold Coast to study "golf tourism opportunities" - reporting the trip as "electorate business", despite representing the marginal Perth seat of Swan.
The latest official travel reports from members of Parliament released this week show Mrs Irons' wife, Cheryle Irons, joined him on the trip, flying home from the tournament at a cost to taxpayers of $1875.14.
Combined with Mr Irons' own travel costs and three nights' accommodation in Coolangatta, taxpayers were charged more than $4000.
An avid golfer, Mr Irons was invited to the first stage of International Team Challenge golf tournament in his role as chairman of the parliamentary friends of sport group.
A spokeswoman said in September no private or commercial business had been conducted during the trip, but Mr Irons had presented trophies, spoken at the tournament dinner and attended a meeting with industry representatives about golf tourism development in his electorate.
The latest report shows his overall parliamentary travel bill for the first six months of 2016 was $8191.00, including one night claimed for electorate business in Melbourne at a cost of $379.
On a single day in February, Mr Irons spent a further $665 on Comcar travel in Canberra and Sydney, before flying home to Perth after a sitting of Parliament.
A spokeswoman for Mr Irons said "the travel and the Comcar charge were within the parliamentary travel guidelines and all required declarations were made."
In September, Fairfax Media reported he charged taxpayers $1346 for a flight to Melbourne for his 2011 wedding at Crown Casino, spending a further $912 for his return flight home a week later.
He repaid his charges after conducting an internal audit of travel expenses but defended paying for Mrs Iron's flight home because she was travelling to Perth to attend an official reception with the Queen at Government House, within travel entitlement rules.
In 2013, Mr Irons repaid more than $10,000 for flights and taxis, including for travel to Melbourne coinciding with his son's AFL debut for Port Adelaide in 2011.
The government has been slow to implement changes recommended by a review of MPs travel entitlements launched in 2015, after the Abbott government was hit by a series of scandals.
Former speaker Peter Slipper reported charging more than $12,000 for domestic travel during the first half of 2016, while former prime minister John Howard claimed about $150,000 in travel and office expenses in the period.
