Lenore Taylor Political editor Wednesday 29 July 2015

The Speaker’s position on claims made for private travel is clearly untenable and her colleagues see it. The only question now is whether Tony Abbott does

In both cases, Bishop insists she has done nothing wrong, that she is not required to ask permission for such meetings, nor to report back to the committee. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

It sounds like the dog ate Bronwyn Bishop’s homework – twice. Even senior Liberals are having terrible trouble defending her.

First she claimed $600 in flights to Albury on the same weekend in 2006 as colleague Sophie Mirabella’s nearby wedding, because, she says, she had a secret meeting with an unnamed person late on a Friday afternoon regarding a parliamentary committee inquiry into balancing work and family life.

Not since Deirdre Chambers turned up to dinner in Muriel’s Wedding have we seen such a coincidence

Fellow committee members were not told about the meeting, did not approve the travel and do not remember hearing anything that Bishop, the committee chair, gleaned from her conveniently-timed discussion.

It’s hard to imagine what aspect of work/life balance could be so sensitive as to require such secrecy and discretion, harder still to imagine why it would have to remain secret nine years later.

Now we discover that Bishop claimed travel allowance due to another secret meeting with an unnamed academic, as part of her work on another inquiry by the same committee into illicit drugs. And – you wouldn’t believe it – this meeting also happened to coincide with another colleague’s interstate wedding. Not since Deirdre Chambers turned up to dinner in Muriel’s Wedding have we seen such a coincidence.

In both cases, Bishop insists she has done nothing wrong, that she is not required to ask permission for such meetings, nor to report back to the committee.

The standing orders for committees do not specify rules about chairs meeting people anonymously, but do say committees can hold private hearings. Three committee members have to be present for it to constitute a committee meeting.

Bronwyn Bishop under scrutiny over expenses for flight to another wedding

Speaker’s spokesman says she met an unnamed academic on official business on the Monday after the wedding of colleague Teresa Gambaro

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We know parliamentarians regularly schedule a public event to justify billing taxpayers for a party event that would not otherwise be eligible.

In 2014 Tony Abbott explained to government MPs that he had arrived late for a party-room meeting in Canberra because he had had to schedule an early morning visit to a cancer research centre in Melbourne, so that he could justify taxpayer funding for his trip to the city for a “private function” the night before.

But at least we have proof the prime minister really did attend the cancer clinic.

Bill Shorten says Speaker Bronwyn Bishop must go. Video

Imagine for a moment where we would end up if any unspecified private meeting with any unspecified person could be used to justify an MP’s travel for private reasons.

Would it really be OK for an MP to say: “Sure, that secret meeting with an unnamed person about an unspecified subject, which I used to justify my travel to Port Douglas, occurred the night before I was due to start my annual leave ... at Port Douglas. What of it?”

Bronwyn Bishop 'had to attend secret hearings' on Mirabella wedding trip

Speaker’s office says she had to hold anonymous hearings of the balancing work and family inquiry in the area that weekend and could not give further details of what business she used to justify claiming expenses

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Bishop might have paid back the $5,000 associated with her infamous helicopter ride to Geelong (frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull pointedly made the same trip on Wednesday via two trams and a train) and the finance department may be investigating her claims – but her position is clearly untenable and her colleagues can see it. The only question now is whether the prime minister does.

And even when the Bishop saga is eventually resolved, we need absolute clarity that secret meetings with unnamed people lie clearly outside the travel allowance rules.

The dog ate Bronwyn Bishop's travel expenses homework – twice | Australia news | The Guardian