Budget Week – May 6 to May 12

Every year, Budget Weeks comes around, and it’s both slightly enjoyable and slightly annoying. Enjoyable because our politicians tend to have a serious week with minimal mudslinging, and annoying because the Budget can be a little hard to understand for those of us less mathematically and economically inclined, let alone find a relevant tidbit of information for younger Australians (like me).

The theme for the 2018 Budget is: “living within our means”. The government’s budget aims to show that the country is living within its means, while keeping spending and debt down. Spoiler alert, this is what is known as an election budget – the last budget prior to the next federal election. One would have expected next year’s to be the election budget, but word on the street is that the election will be taking place in the next twelve months, so the sweeteners are in this one.

There will be a reduction in income tax for low and middle-income earners, some of which will start next financial year. Over the next 7 years, there’ll be further cuts (basically it’s aspirational and a promise, in the hope that the people will keep the Liberals in). However, there are concerns that the government is not taking the best route in these tax cuts, as they intend to remove an entire tax bracket. This means that people earning between $45,000 and $200,000 are paying 32.5 cents in the dollar, which some experts argue isn’t entirely fair. The big winner  in all of this are those earning around $90,000 – as the Liberals will need their vote to stay in government.

The government has forecast a surplus for the 2019-20 Financial Year (that is if they stay in power, and financially on track in the next few budgets).

There will be PBS subsidisation of an important Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) drug. With subsidisation, the cost of the drug plummets from a whopping $100,000 per dose, to just $40. The Government has also announced in tandem with this, free genetic screening for SMA, and where parents test positive as carriers, they will be eligible for subsidised IVF, so they can have a healthy baby – as SMA is fatal and most kids with the disorder don’t live for very long.

There will be a large infrastructure spend, but most money is mostly going to other States and Territories, which means the NSW editions of Budget coverage didn’t really cover those projects. In NSW the money will go to plans for the Badgerys Creek Airport rail link and a Botany transport link duplication to reduce congestion.

The ABC does some pretty comprehensive summaries including a Winners & Losers graphic explainer, so go check it out. It explains things better than me….

Labor’s Budget reply was interesting – they feel the Liberals are all for helping the big end of town (a bit true), so they’ve promised to reduce tax rebates further. The maximum lump sum you can get back on your tax with the Liberals is about $530, whereas Labor is promising to return a lump sum of around $928 to those same taxpayers. Whether or not people go for it is yet to be seen, but there will be by-elections soon.

Why, you ask?

If you remember a couple of months ago, Australia was gripped by the Section 44 saga – I lost count at 10 MPs and Senators caught out, but this week saw another four MPs and Senators caught up (SBS tells me I’m not far off, they’ve counted 15 as of this week). This time all but one are Labor Party people – Senator Katy Gallagher, Braddon MP Justine Keay, Longman MP Susan Lamb, Fremantle MP Josh Wilson and Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie (who was elected as NXT, but will be on the Centre Alliance Party ticket because Nick Xenophon changed the party name). Add to this the resignation of Perth MP Tim Hammond, who is resigning for family reasons, and it appears there will be one big Super Saturday election day for all five of these by-elections.

There is also a small amount of annoyance at the High Court from both sides of politics, as the Court has not only stolen the government’s Budget thunder, but their ruling has left four electorates without MPs, and when these seats are finally filled, the MPs in them may not be there for long – the next federal election is due in the next six to twelve months.

Finally this week, Bob Hawke was in hospital for a bit; Australia’s contemporary Parliament House turned 30; and there are calls for there to be a legislated staff:patient ratio at residential care homes (like there are at childcare centres) in order to improve patient care and outcomes.

Tweet of the Week

SBSViceland’s The Feed presenter Mark Humphries ended up in Budget Lockup.

I was locked in a room for six hours with every political journalist in the country. This is my story. #Budget2018 pic.twitter.com/QGbsMeOubm

— Mark Humphries (@markhumphries) May 8, 2018

Thing’s I’ve Been Looking at Online

Annabel Crabb’s take on the Budget – ABC Online

 

The Two Weeks That Were – March 11 to March 24

During the last fortnight there were three elections (yes, three – all on the same night) – the WA state seat of Cottesloe was won by the Liberal Party in a by-election; and the by-election in the Victorian Federal seat of Batman was won by the Labor party’s Ged Kearney, which was a bit of a surprise, given many expected the Greens to win the seat. However it appears that some within the Greens leaked to the media, suggesting their candidate Alex Bhathal is a bully and accused her of branch stacking.

Meanwhile, in South Australia, the Liberal Party has won the State Election in their own right, after 16 years of Labor Party rule. It’s not as bad a gouging as the NSW state election in 2011, as the SA Labor Party only lost 4 seats. Jay Weatherill seemed pragmatic about the loss, which is unsurprising given he’s been in power for 16 years. What was surprising for many is the fact no seats in the South Australian lower house were won by Nick Xenophon’s SA-BEST party, but they will likely have two upper house seats.

During the fortnight, the ASEAN Summit was held in Sydney, which is unusual. Why? Well, apparently Australia is not an actual member. Instead, we’re sort of honorary members because we are a rich, slightly important neighbour. Anyway, we got to host South East Asian leaders, and show off the city – while also hoping to become a full-blown member, which can only happen if the current members vote unanimously to let us in. This consensus model also means that ASEAN doesn’t really tackle human rights issues, although this year they did make some sort of resolution to see what they could do regarding the humanitarian crisis surrounding Rohingya Muslims.

Bill Shorten announced a tax plan where investors will no longer be able to exchange their franking credits for monetary refunds when they get dividends from their investments. This has led to a tax fight between the Liberal and Labor party with accusations that Shorten’s plan will affect mostly “mum and dad” investors and the elderly that manage their own retirement income.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is in trouble after he implied that South Africa was an uncivilised country. It all started when Dutton (who some believe might be a teensy bit xenophobic) said that he wanted to welcome white South African farmers who are being forced off their land in favour of blacks, who he says are being persecuted. They may very well be persecuted, seeing as it appears that some white farmers have been murdered.

However, given Dutton has a history of appearing to not really want to help refugees from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, all of a sudden passionately calling for us to welcome a bunch of affluent, white South Africans makes him look a little bit bad.

Meanwhile the Royal Commission into the banking and finance sector is continuing with Counsel Assisting Rowena Orr QC and Commissioner Kenneth Hayne QC. Justice Hayne has been getting quite mad with the Big Four banks who have not been very helpful – “forgetting” to include key documents, and abysmally failing to follow Australian business law that requires companies to report things to regulators within a certain amount of time. Meanwhile, Rowena Orr’s expressions, while listening to some of the answers to questions she has asked have been awesome.

Finally this fortnight, there are concerns about a lack of policy to deal with Australia’s rapid population growth; there are questions over what the USA expects us to do now that Australia is exempt from aluminium and steel tariffs; and the Cambridge Analytica scandal has people asking whether Australian political parties have been using the company or similar entities in their campaigns.

Tweet of the Fortnight

https://twitter.com/leighsales/status/973385759322353664

 

The Week That Was – May 14 to May 20

It was looking like a quiet, relatively calm week for federal politics this week. Then cam the ATO scandal.

The scandalous part of this whole tax office thing is that the Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston has been stood down and will be appearing in court in the next few months for allegedly accessing and giving his son Adam confidential information that he shouldn’t have – in relation to an alleged conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth. It’s especially awkward given he’s theoretically the most senior tax cop the country has. Cranston’s son, Adam, and daughter, Lauren, have also been arrested in relation to the matter, as have seven or eight others. It’s believed Cranston was unaware of what the information he allegedly gave was used for, but he did allegedly abuse his position. The government went for the angry and disappointed reaction – but to avoid screwing up the case against the accused they haven’t said much else.

Before the ATO drama broke this week, the regular post-Budget selling trip was looking relatively boring. This budget has been mostly well-received, with only a few issues really being hit on by the opposition and cross bench. I say mostly because the post-Budget opinion poll puts Labor in front of the Government by a few points in the two-party preferred. The tax issue is still the main point of contention. Australia has a progressive tax system, which means that the 80% of Australians that earn less than $80,000 per year, contribute around a third of the country’s tax revenue; while the other 20% who earn over $80,000 per year, contribute 70% of tax revenue.  While the Liberals wanting an increase in tax for everyone, no matter their salary, Labor only wants to increase taxes for those on high incomes.

Treasurer Scott Morrison is also annoyed with former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry – who now works for NAB – because Henry has said that banks will have to pass on the bank levy (applicable to the Big Five – Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, St George, NAB and ANZ) to customers, and he also criticised the tax. Morrison would like for the banks to just take the levy and not affect customers, but this is unlikely to happen. The Treasurer is also calling Ken Henry a hypocrite, because Henry once supported a previously floated bank tax.

The Navy has some issues with two relatively new ships – the HMAS Adelaide and the HMAS Canberra. It appears that the foreign designed and built ships have propulsion issues – and they’re unlikely to be fixed in time for war games with the United States in a month. The experts behind the ships have been called in and there appears to be a major design flaw in the systems causing problems.

Finally this week, some media companies are wanting the cross media ownership laws to be loosened; a Senate Inquiry is looking into research funding into low survival cancers such as brain cancer; and the Australian Medical Association says that same-sex marriage has positive health effects on those in same-sex relationships.

Tweet of the Week

 

Buzzfeed’s international offices get sassy during Eurovision…

Buzzfeed Germany has no chill #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/IImerAzlg4

— elif (@victuuris95) May 13, 2017

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Juanita Phillips on what she doesn’t worry about as a single mum – SMH

Stan Grant on the “great divide” getting wider – ABC Online

 

The Week That Was – May 7 to May 13

First, apologies for the sudden few weeks off, but when your internet dies and the family ends up having to use a pocket wi-fi device for two weeks, you end up having to decide what is the best use of what little wi-fi there is available.

But I came back in time for Budget Week! Yay! I’m not normally a fan of maths and economics and finance, because it makes my head hurt, but in the last couple of years I’ve warmed to it. Modern technology also helps, as people can now make graphics to simply explain “winners and losers”.

The theme for the budget this year was “Fairness, Opportunity and Security”, with the aim of differing between good and bad debt (borrowing for paying bills = bad; borrowing to build infrastructure = good) and making things fairer. The big things in this budget include the funding for Snowy Hydro 2.0, Gonski 2.0, Badgery’s Creek Airport and other infrastructure. The AFP will get a $320 million boost in funding, and

There will also be an increase in the Medicare levy to pay for the NDIS, as well as an increase in tax for most, if not all, taxpayers. There is also a restructure to schools funding, which is causing a bit of drama, because several schools will lose some money. In NSW (because that’s what version of ABC News I get) several independent and public schools will lose between $500,000 to $2.5 million in funding in 2018, making the State Education minister, as well as the NSW Department of Education boss Mark Scott (who used to run the ABC) very mad – although more about the public schools than the independent ones.

The ‘big four’ banks (ANZ, NAB, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac) are going to be taxed by the government, with the aim of rasing $6.2 billion over the next four years. The banks are not happy, and walked out of meeting with the government this week, convinced the tax is unworkable. Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull have both encouraged the banks to take the pain and not pass on the costs to the consumers. There is also a plan to allow first-home buyers to salary sacrifice money into their super in order to help them afford the deposit on a home. There are still no mentions of changing negative gearing.

The government has also decided to randomly drug test Centrelink recipients, which has been met with mixed reviews. Some support it, mainly in areas where the jobs involve drug testing in order to be allowed onto site, while others are concerned it will push those on the dole who may be just barely getting by into homelessness when their payments are cut off. Jacqui Lambie has decided that she will only support it if politicians are drug tested as well (which will be unlikely in my lifetime).

Bill Shorten and the Labor party are in a bit of hot water this week after an advertisement touting Labor’s plan to ‘hire Australians first’ – with a cast of, well, white people in work uniforms. The party has been criticised for not reflecting the diversity of the country, with Shorten and the party apologising for the advert, which will likely never be played again ever.

Finally this week, the Prime Minister has revealed he is considering an American request to send more troops to the Middle East, a decision he will be making without Dennis Richardson, a long-serving public servant and advisor, who retired on Friday; and the death of ABC radio journalist and presenter Mark Colvin shocked and saddened politicians and the media.

Tweet of the Week

I love Budget Day. What else apart from long-haul flight delivers the solid excuse to switch phone off for 6 hours?

— Annabel Crabb (@annabelcrabb) May 9, 2017

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Leigh Sales’ tribute to Mark Colvin – ABC Online

ABC journalists remember Mark Colvin – ABC Online

How Brigitte Macron is different from other French presidential spouses – ABC Online

The Week That Was – February 21 to February 27

The week began with a concession from the government on “Baby Asha”, being kept in the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital on doctor’s orders. Asha, as she is being called, and her family are part of a group of sick and injured asylum seeker children who are in Australia with their families for medical assistance who are due to be sent back to detention on Nauru once well. Asha, who has severe scald burns on her torso after a pot of hot water fell onto her (her mum is understood to have been boiling it to make sure it was safe for drinking), was due to be discharged a few weeks ago. The medical staff at the hospital, decided that releasing her would cause harm, and refused discharge her if she was to be sent to Nauru. That, combined with the protestors outside the hospital supporting the medical staff, meant a lot of negative publicity for the government. So, the government eventually conceded to allow Asha and her family to stay in community detention for the time being.

Somehow the Labor party seems to have the upper hand when it comes to tax policy, and that may just be because they have been able to draw out confirmations and denials from the Turnbull government about just what is in the tax reform package. There were concerns at the beginning of the week that the Coalition would allow Superannuation be optional for low-income earners, I guess because that would give them more take home pay, but it also defies sensibility given that it would push them all onto the pension in old age, at a huge cost to the taxpayer. That idea seems to have disappeared now, as has the possibility of fiddling with capital gains tax – or it did on Monday night, only to apparently change on Tuesday morning. The week wasn’t any better for the government on tax, especially when there appeared to be contradictory messages on Labor’s negative gearing policy. Malcolm Turnbull has spent a long time saying that it will decrease the price of houses (which doesn’t seem like a bad thing to people in my generation who are unlikely to buy their first home anytime soon), only for Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer to appear to suggest that Labor’s negative gearing plan could in fact increase the cost of homes. Oops.

Election rumblings are continuing this week, with the government announcing electoral reforms for the senate ballot papers. The reform is in an attempt to curb what is called “preference deals” in which small parties exchange preferences in the hope that one of them might get a person in the senate with the tiniest of margins (think 0.02% of the vote). The idea is to allow voters to write the numbers 1-6 (or 1-12 in a double dissolution election) in the boxes above or below the line for who they want to represent them in the senate, and once those 6 (or 12) people or parties are counted, the vote is exhausted. They are also tossing around the idea of logos on the ballot papers. This makes it more likely that more substantive parties, like the Liberals, Nationals, Labor and to an extent the Greens, will have the balance of power in the Senate, instead of some random guy from a one-issue party. At the moment, the Greens and Nick Xenophon are on board with the changes – mainly because they feel have enough support to get senate seats without preference deals (this is true for Xenophon as he came second in his last Senate election). On the other hand, the PUP, Liberal Democrats, Family First and the ex-PUPs Jacqui Lambie and Glen Lazarus, as well as ex-DLP John Madigan are not supporting the changes, as they are less likely to survive, and have found themselves support in the for of Labor.

Thanks to the Greens and Nick Xenophon, the government is likely to get the Senate reforms through. It also seems that the government could call the election in July in a Double Dissolution, in order to re-do the senate entirely, as most of the issues stemmed from the 2013 Election, and Senators voted in then still have until 2019.

The Defence White Paper was released this week, with plans to make Defence spending equal to 2% of Australia’s GDP in the next few years. Australia is essentially joining the “Asian Arms Race” with new ships, planes and submarines to be made. The aim is to make an investment in security, and it better pay off. At least $50 billion will be spent on buying 12 submarines from someone, yet the maintenance of them could be three times that. 75 Joint Strike Fighter Jets (which are the F-35 Jets that have been delayed by issue after issue to the point where Canada and Denmark began reconsidering their orders). 21 new ships will be built by Australian shipbuilders, contributing to the large amount of money and gear the Navy is getting as the major beneficiary of this White Paper.

Finally this week, survivors and family members of child abuse in the Catholic Church have travelled to Rome to hear Cardinal Pell’s evidence to the Royal Commission; Tony Abbott says that China doesn’t share Australia’s values while on the speaking circuit and Mal Brough will leave politics at the next election.

Tweet of the Week

Someone had fun with the exclusive tag this morning, didn't they? pic.twitter.com/NDBbqdTkxA

— Gabrielle Jackson (@gabriellecj) February 26, 2016

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Annabel Crabb on trolls – SMH

The Side of Mardi Gras you don’t see – Buzzfeed

Cory Bernardi vs. Bill Shorten

The Week That Was – February 7 to February 13

From the interviews, Question Time responses and reports this week, it appears that the proposed rise in the GST may be no more. With someone suggesting that the GST will become a “tar baby” for governments – essentially meaning that it is something bes avoided lest you get entangled – which is possibly true. Turnbull and Morrison appear to believe that tax reform can be done another way. However, the business lobby appears to be annoyed, as is Labor – although not publicly – because they were going to have a pretty good run at the election had the GST been part of the plan. It seems that we will have to wait for the Budget in May before we know what the tax reforms will be.

Internal party drama took the forefront this week, with Veterans Affairs and Human Services Minister Stuart Robert under fire for a trip to China under peculiar circumstances. He says that he went there in a personal capacity, witnessing a deal that mining company Nimrod Resources made in China. The company is a big donor to the Liberals, and despite what Robert has said, it appears that China thought he was there in his role as an MP and as Assistant Defence Minister, and dutifully threw him under the bus. He resigned from his ministerial role on Friday. A lot of the information the media has, seems to have come from people leaking in order to destabilise the Turnbull government. Sound familiar?

This instability was compounded by the fact that several senior ministers have announced they will step down at the next election, leading to a cabinet reshuffle announced on Saturday. Nationals Leader Warren Truss has said he won’t contest the next election and stepped down from his role as leader, leading to a spill that was won by Barnaby Joyce, who is now the new Deputy PM, and Fiona Nash was voted his number two. She will also become Minister for Regional Development, Regional Communications and Rural Health. Trade Minister Andrew Robb has also decided that he will retire from politics, and step down from Cabinet, with Steve Ciobo replacing him. However, Robb will stay on as a “special envoy”, basically so he can finish out the Free Trade Agreements he negotiated and guide Ciobo through the portfolio. There have been some other moves, and an increase in the number of women in the wider cabinet to ten, and the Nationals have got themselves another Cabinet position.

Rounding out the outgoing MPs and Senators is former Defence Minister David Johnston – the guy who wouldn’t trust South Australian shipbuilders to build a canoe – will also leave parliament, with the likelihood of the position of Consul-General to Hong Kong as a sweetener. Along with Phillip Ruddock, who will not be contesting his seat of Berowra at the next election, getting a Human Rights Envoy role in return. A lot of experience – nearly 150 years all together – is walking out the door.

Several State Premiers of both major parties have told the PM and the Immigration Minister that they would like to take in the nearly 300 detained asylum seekers and their family members currently in Australia for medical treatment. Dan Andrews of Victoria, Will Hodgman of Tasmania, Annastacia Palaszczuk of Queensland and Jay Wetherill od South Australia have said that they would gladly allow them to stay in their states, and NSW Premier Mike Baird has said that he’s happy to have them if he’s asked.

Meanwhile, protesters have been rallying against the decision, with many rallying outside a Brisbane hospital on Saturday night after medical staff refused to discharge a baby being treated for burns at risk of being returned.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse has ruled that Cardinal Pell, the former Archbishop of Sydney, can give his evidence to the Commission via video link from the Vatican, as he is “too ill” to travel. The Commission appears to have accepted the request in the interests of time, as they are due to deliver their report at some point this year, and they will likely see another priest give evidence via video link from their nursing home as they are very unwell and elderly. Victims and their families are not happy, because they wanted to have Pell in person, but in some ways, they should at least feel relieved that Pell will actually give evidence to the enquiry at all.

Finally this week, there are concerns about a CSIRO restructure; the Close the Gap report reveals that while there are some improvements for some indicators, there is still a long way to go in improving the quality of life for the indigenous population; and there has been a suggestion that some of the NDIS could be privately funded – a suggestion that has not gone down well.

Tweets of the Week

 

https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/698323436662161408

Things That I’ve Been Looking at Online

Cabinet Reshuffle: Who’s going where? – ABC Online

First Dog on the Moon on Greg Hunt being named world’s best minister – The Guardian

First Dog on the Moon on how Turnbull has disappointed people – The Guardian

The Week That Was – June 29 to July 5

This week has primarily focused on the two Asylum Seeker boats out near Christmas Island. We know they exist, that on of them is possibly from India, that the Detention Centre on Christmas Island is preparing for new people and that they are the first boats in quite a long time. Since then, nothing has been heard from the government who have said it’s an “on-water operation” that they won’t comment on just yet, and we don’t even know if the boats have made it ashore or if the asylum seekers are even alive.

There are concerns that the refugees are being assessed on the boats they arrived on. The UNHCR is concerned as well, reminding Australia that it is illegal to return people to a place where they fear for their safety under international law. However, Scott Morrison appears to be trying to find a way around that and he could use his ministerial powers to intervene in cases.

There are also more suggestions of streamlining welfare payments again. It’s suggested that people with “non-permanent” disabilities could be taken off the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and onto New Start – which is considerably less money. Also, I’d like to know what a “non-permanent disability” is. The Opposition is angry, especially Anthony Albanese, who was raised by his single mother with the DSP as most of her income.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released an interim report, saying that they had heard shocking stories and that the number of complaints was so high, they would need two more years and another $100 million to continue their investigations. They are investigating at least 70 institutions and say that adults have failed children. The government in considering the request for more time and money. The Royal Commission is also annoyed at the Vatican, because they asked for all the documents pertaining to paedophile priests in Australia and they’ve only received two. And speaking of the Catholic Church, despite Cardinal Pell telling the Commission that the church will stop using the “Ellis Defence” (the defence that says that the Church is not a legal entity that can be sued) in sexual abuse cases, they are still using it.

The NDIS is still facing problems a year after its launch, with many people facing bureaucratic battles. It appears that very few people are aware of their rights under the scheme and are in fact losing out on some of the things they had before. There is also questions over what should be funded and whether or nor iPads are worth funding – despite the fact that some are actually being used to help with communication.

This week also saw the new senators being shown the ropes in Canberra, in what is affectionately called “Senate Kindy”. It appears that Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie wants to become PM eventually and that the only thing that David Leyonhjelm learnt at Senate Kindy was not to go to wineries in ComCars.

Speaking of David Leyonhjelm, he may just help get the Paid Parental Leave Scheme through the Senate, however he wants to see a deregulation of childcare, such that there are cheaper options for families. Sussan Ley, the Assistant Education Minister, says that while she thinks it could be a good, it isn’t on the cards – something the Opposition and childcare associations are happy about, saying that people want quality and safety when it comes to taking care of their kids.

Finally, the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) saga continues, with the CEO apologising for messing up and telling people that they are opening up an investigation. However, there are still concerns because the investigation will be internal and only after that investigation will anyone external be brought in, and even the CBA will choose who the external person is. The Financial Planning Association does support a Royal Commission, unless the CBA sorts everything out, especially its compensation.

Also this week, a 17-year-old Western Sydney teenager is reportedly in the Middle East, presumably to fight in Syria or Iraq, Julie Bishop travelled to Myanmar on a trip that focused on trade and education, there are plans to ban Australians from bringing back souvenirs from ‘canned hunting’ trips and be aware of a scam in which you are called by someone saying they are from the ATO, recite your tax details and tell you have overdue taxes – somehow some people’s tax details have been sold on the black market.

Tweet of the Week

The media always reports about public transport crazies when they're racist but never when they reveal the true identity of the Lizard King.

— Tom Ballard (@TomCBallard) July 3, 2014

What I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

The UN now recognises same-sex marriage – Gaystar News

Tony Abbott in trouble for saying Australia was ‘unsettled’ before colonisation – SBS Online

The Taxpayer Money Saga

i like this new notion where making an inappropriate expense claim is just fine, so long as you pay it back when sprung.

— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) October 7, 2013

so you know, i can steal cars, and if i get away with it fine. if i don’t i just hand the car back and no harm done.

— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) October 7, 2013

That’s the ABC Online editor and radio presenter Jonathan Green’s take on this taxpayer money claiming scandal thing.

I don’t know what to call it. Scandal? Saga? Thing? Taxpayer-Money-Gate?

But Jonathan Green’s comment, using the stealing of a car, simplifies it into a few simple steps, which I have listed below.

1. Go to a wedding or on an equally dubious “work trip”.
2. Claim taxpayer money on transport, accommodation, food or all the above and pray you get away with it.
3. Once caught, pay it back, saying you were always intending to, because you are an honest person.
4. In interviews, blame the fact that regulations are very vague.

While I don’t think anyone stole cars, and nor should anyone take Jonathan Green’s suggestion seriously, it is a little concerning that this is going on.

First, what are the entitlements for?

Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990 allows certain travel and accommodation to be reimbursed if it is related to ‘parliamentary or electorate business’.

That’s what it says on the Parliament House website. It also tells you the four reasons you can claim for overseas travel (N.B. I have cut out the additional explanations from the site):

1. Travel as a member of a Parliamentary Delegation, within a program approved for each calendar year by the Prime Minister.

2. Travel overseas for the purpose of undertaking studies and investigations of matters related to their duties and responsibilities as a member of parliament.

3. Representational overseas travel for parliamentarians who, with the approval of the Prime Minister, are representing Australia, a Minister, or the Government overseas.

4. Travel overseas on official business for Ministers as approved by the Prime Minister.

So, if you are going to a trade summit or the UN or something along those lines, then the claims for accommodation and travel are completely legitimate. I can totally understand the claiming of tax payer’s money if the politician is doing their job (for some that term is also ambiguous).

Not only are people claiming for weddings, but Tony Abbott has also claimed money for travel to Iron Man competitions, in particular one in the electorate of Port Macquarie, which he said was legitimate because back then the seat was “at the time, marginal”. He also claimed travel for his charity ride called the ‘Pollie Pedal’. He says he isn’t going to pay it back, and if he is travelling in his capacity (as in not on holiday, one hopes) he’ll claim the allowance.

I’m sorry Mr Abbott, but if going to sporting events and charity events, whether they are in a marginal seat or not, are “duties and responsibilities as a member of parliament” then I must be living on another planet. How is being in an Iron Man contest or a triathlon a responsibility as an MP?

I wonder if he’ll answer that question. Probably not.

Oh well, at least he’s paying some of it back. Which, if we are being honest is what Peter Slipper said he’d do about those dodgy CabCharge claims. But that doesn’t seem to be an issue, despite the fact the Mr Slipper is facing the courts over it, while Abbott is just paying some of the money back.

I don’t think we’ve seen the end of this.