Embattled Speaker Bronwyn Bishop is facing an immediate no-confidence motion when Parliament resumes on August 10, in a move designed to blast her out of the chair.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Labor strategists are already planning to move the motion to unseat Mrs Bishop, who has been under intense pressure for her use of expenses including a $5227 helicopter charter flight to a Liberal Party fundraiser and an $88,000 two-week trip to Europe - and her refusal to apologise over the matter.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday that Mrs Bishop was now "on probation" and that she had "copped a justifiable hiding" over the matter.
"I can really understand why people are unhappy about this," Mr Abbott said. "Frankly, I'm unhappy about it as well."
However, Mr Abbott said he believed Mrs Bishop was "contrite" over the issue.
Despite Mrs Bishop repaying the money for the helicopter ride including a $1300 penalty, Labor strategists confirmed to Fairfax Media that the opposition was already plotting the tactics it would employ in an attempt to remove the Speaker.
"That [a no confidence motion] is one of the tools available. It will be impossible for the government to advance any other issues until they resolve this one," the MP said.
"Once they know what procedures we are set upon they can prevent it, so we haven't settled on tactics yet."
A 'no confidence' motion in the Speaker is likely to fail, given the government's big majority of MPs in the 150-member lower house.
But it will maintain pressure on Mrs Bishop and ensure that her use of entitlements remains the subject of public debate, when the government would rather be talking about other issues.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has continued to urge Mr Abbott to "show courage and leadership" by instructing Mrs Bishop to resign as Speaker.
"When Tony Abbott was opposition leader he was all about talking about standards of performance and accountability. Now he's the Prime Minister he seems to be missing in action," Mr Shorten said on Monday.
"What we've seen is a very reluctant Bronwyn Bishop who accepts no responsibility for the abuse of taxpayer funds and say it falls within guidelines even when many colleagues don't think it does."
"It's flagrant abuse of taxpayer funds and furthermore, the way that Mr Abbott has reacted since the public discovery of this flagrant abuse shows the Liberals are just out of touch with community standards."
The warning of a no-confidence motion comes after Fairfax Media revealed Mrs Bishop did not check her expenses before she signed off on the six-monthly Finance Department report which revealed the notorious $5227 helicopter charter flight, instead leaving it to her staff.
It also came as Mrs Bishop faced fresh questions over the apparent use of another charter flight to fly to another Liberal fundraiser in the NSW town of Young.
There is mounting pressure from within the Liberal Party, too, for Mrs Bishop, to go but the under-fire Speaker is digging in.
Mrs Bishop has already faced a no-confidence motion as Speaker, with Labor moving one in March last year amid accusations of bias and incompetence levelled at the Speaker.
Former Speaker Peter Slipper faced a similar motion in October 2012, and although he narrowly survived the motion by one vote he resigned later that day.
With Fergus Hunter
