More parliamentarians embroiled in expenses scandal; Teens face day two of social media ban
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie was asked this morning to justify her own parliamentary spending, amid growing scrutiny over MPs’ exercise of family travel rights.
Asked at Nine’s Today “I think it’s important for all lawmakers to not abuse the system, right? The reality is, for my own sporting events that I go to, you know… they’re business events; although I go to a transportation conference, a trucking roundtable, logistics, supply chain conferences, they’re not as exciting as going to some of those sporting events,” McKenzie said of his own travel expenses over the period, which have totaled up to $30,000 since 2019.
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“Because I’m the shadow minister for infrastructure and we deal with stadiums and things like that… so I get to participate in those kinds of roles, so it’s a huge privilege in my role.”
McKenzie was also pressed on whether the parliamentary authorization system should be reviewed or overhauled.
“The important thing is, I think it’s transparent and so everything is disclosed and made public. And if you really hate that your local MP is doing this, you can take him off the ballot at the next election.”
“I note that the Prime Minister has said that he does not write the rules regarding Anika Wells. In fact, the Prime Minister writes the rules. So if he thinks the rules need to be changed, he should write to the independent authority and take a look,” he said.
