Speaker Tony Smith – who has been battling to force better behaviour in the House of Representatives on MPs including Scott Morrison – has announced he will not contest the next election.
It’s still unclear whether Anning’s trip to Melbourne was for the dominant purpose of parliamentary business.
MICK TSIKAS/AAP
In the last few years, some MPs have made extravagant claims on their parliamentary entitlements. So, what are they actually allowed to use the money for?
Sussan Ley was under pressure to resign following claims she misused her travel entitlements and breached the ministerial standards.
AAP/Lukas Coch
It is unclear whether stood-aside minister Sussan Ley has breached the ministerial standards over her travel expenses. And the rules on claiming entitlements are unclear and very complex.
Paul Keating put the idea of a new flag, shorn of any traces of the Union Jack, on the political agenda.
AAP/David Moir
By the end of 1992, Paul Keating had done more than anyone to place on the political agenda issues of national identity that had been either dead or dormant for years.
Malcolm Turnbull and the former member for Indi, Sophie Mirabella, attend a rally organised by owner-driver trucking companies.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Victorian Liberal Tony Smith has convincingly won his party’s ballot for speaker and outlined to the House of Representatives his plans to improve the operation of what has been a chaotic parliament.
A freshly weakened Tony Abbott faces some difficult issues and dangerous flashpoints in the upcoming parliamentary sitting fortnight.
Ben Macmahon/AAP
Memo from Finance Department to minister Mathias Cormann: “Urgently needed – staff reinforcements for the Great Expense Chase”. Just joking. But only a little.
Bronwyn Bishop resigned as Speaker following a controversy that brought the public’s trust in her office into question.
AAP/Daniel Munoz
What can the new Speaker do to restore the Australian public’s faith in the office – and in MPs more broadly – after Bronwyn Bishop’s resignation due to a series of lavish entitlement claims?
Tony Abbott has put the entire system of parliamentary entitlements up for review.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
It would be good if we had a transparent parliamentary entitlements system that generated less political noise. We could avoid the major distractions from serious policy debates.
After his disastrous ‘captain’s call’ Bronwyn Bishop, Tony Abbott has indicated that those aspiring to succeed her as speaker can fight it out to get the numbers among their peers.
Ben Macmahon/AAP
The glittering prize of the speakership is dangling in front of the eyes of several backbenchers whose careers are becalmed. They have a rare chance. Almost all advancement in the government is in the…
The scandal surrounding Bronwyn Bishop’s entitlements may not have ended with her resignation as Speaker.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Combined, the nature of the controversy, Bishop’s behaviour as Speaker, and the way she and her party dealt with the issue created the perfect storm for a damaging scandal.
When claiming entitlements, Bronwyn Bishop seems to have had no normal sense of awareness.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
One snippet sums up Bronwyn Bishop’s disconnect with the real world. Her spokesman was quoted at the weekend saying she had often preferred limousines because they could travel in bus lanes, thus getting…
Speaker Bronwyn Bishop has resigned from her position after weeks of controversy over her use of entitlements.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Stephen Parker and Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including Bronwyn Bishop’s entitlements claims and the ministerial reaction to the issue.
The furore around Speaker Bronwyn Bishop’s entitlements claims has continued to grow.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
One’s first question, on hearing Bronwyn Bishop’s unconvincing apology was: did Tony Abbott suggest the approach when the two met in Sydney on Wednesday to discuss tactics for handling the crisis?
The furore around Speaker Bronwyn Bishop is now a full-blown crisis for Tony Abbott.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Arguably, though they are far less spectacular, Bronwyn Bishop’s claims for trips during which she attended the weddings of Liberal colleagues in 2006 and 2007 are even more red-hot than the notorious…
Why me? Bronwyn Bishop’s ‘Choppergate’ scandal has taken off for two reasons: it created an image in the public mind and it feeds into an underlying perception.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
To last a long time, issues need to provide a vivid image. The image of a woman dressed up to the nines with a bouffant hairdo riding in a helicopter is a very vivid one.
Expenses scandals like Bronwyn Bishop’s can have a devastating effect on parliament and on trust in the political system.
AAP/Lukas Coch
During the UK’s parliamentary expenses scandal, many questioned the system as – just like Bronwyn Bishop in Australia now – they felt that they had acted within the rules that existed at the time.
Speaker Bronwyn Bishop said her now-famous helicopter ride was within the guidelines on spending.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The question in the Bronwyn Bishop helicopter hire case is whether she can justify attending the party fundraiser primarily for official business as Speaker.