Subscriber • Opinion

Public Sector Informant: Public outrage still holds politicians to account

By Richard Mulgan
May 4 2021 - 3:30am
Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop was embroiled in controversy after using taxpayers' money to charter a helicopter to get to a Liberal fundraiser. Picture: Getty Images
Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop was embroiled in controversy after using taxpayers' money to charter a helicopter to get to a Liberal fundraiser. Picture: Getty Images

Before "sports rorts" there were "travel rorts". The most notorious scandal was speaker Bronwyn Bishop's chartering of a helicopter to take her to a party fundraiser in 2015 ("Choppergate") but a number of ministers were also accused of misusing their travel entitlements for personal purposes. A storm of public outrage in early 2017, fanned by a news-starved press gallery, induced the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to introduce major changes to the system of administering MPs travel and other expenses.

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