Shalailah Medhora and Lenore Taylor Sunday 2 August 2015
Party room ballot could decide successor to Bishop as Tony Abbott tries to draw a line under the damaging affair by launching a ‘root and branch’ review of expenses
Bronwyn Bishop: ‘It is because of my love and respect for the institution of the parliament and the Australian people that I have resigned.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Coalition MPs are demanding a real say in the selection of a new Speaker after the embattled Bronwyn Bishop finally resigned to end the expenses scandal paralysing the Abbott government.
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Bishop was Tony Abbott’s “captain’s pick” for the job after the 2013 election victory, but MPs say a return to a Coalition party room ballot for the position, and the selection of a new Speaker seen as truly independent, would help repair the damage the government has sustained over the affair.
Tony Abbott announces an inquiry into politicians’ entitlements. Link to video
Contenders include the “father of the house” and former Howard government minister Philip Ruddock, veteran Victorian MP Russell Broadbent and Nationals MP and former minister Bruce Scott.
Despite insisting on Thursday she would not be resigning, the scandal continued and Bishop finally tendered her resignation as Speaker of the House on Sunday. The prime minister made the announcement on Sunday afternoon.
“Regrettably, not withstanding rules that this government put in place ... there are still too many situations where members of parliament can do things that are inside entitlement, but outside public expectations,” Abbott told reporters.
Abbott was keen to take the focus off Bishop, saying the system was broken.
“This has obviously been a very difficult day for Bronwyn Bishop,” he said.
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“I believe that in the vast majority of cases, for the vast majority of the time, that is exactly what the public has got. They have got people in the parliament who are serving them to the best of their ability,” the prime minister said.
“Nevertheless, it has become apparent over the last few weeks, particularly in recent days, that the system does need fundamental reform. That’s exactly what there will be under this government because the public deserves it.”
He announced a whole-scale review of the entitlements system – to be led by the former head of the Department of Finance, David Tune, and the head of the Remuneration Tribunal, John Conde – which will aim to give “the public confidence”.
Abbott said it will not be a “quickie” review, but rather a “root and branch” audit of the system.
The review will report back to the government in the first half of 2016.
Technically the Speaker is elected by the House of Representatives, but the government’s numbers mean its nomination will get the job. During the Howard years the Coalition nomination was on occasions decided by a Coalition party room ballot.
Some commentators had suggested independent Cathy McGowan for the job, but she said she wasn’t interested.
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“I’m absolutely focussing on being the member for Indi,” she said. “It’s got to be someone from the government.”
The scandal began on 15 July when it was revealed the Speaker spent over $5,200 to charter a luxury helicopter for an 80km trip from Melbourne to a golf club in Geelong in November 2014 where she spoke at a Liberal party fundraiser.
Abbott put Bishop on “probation” but news of questionable uses of public money kept on coming, including stories that she used taxpayer dollars to attend the weddings of two colleagues, Sophie Mirabella in June 2006, and Teresa Gambaro in 2007.
She said the use of the money was “within the guidelines” but revelations on Sunday that she spent more than $1,000 on limousines in one day when she was an opposition minister in 2012 proved the last straw.
Ministers were reduced to daily fire fighting duties as each new story forced some kind of government response.
But the furore ended when Bishop issued a statement on Sunday explaining her decision.
“I have not taken this decision lightly, however it is because of my love and respect for the institution of the parliament and the Australian people that I have resigned as Speaker,” she said.
The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said Bishop’s resignation was overdue.
“Mr Abbott has blamed the system, but it was Mrs Bishop’s addiction to privilege that was the real culprit,” Shorten said in a statement.
He said the announcement of the review should not absolve Abbott of publicly releasing the finance department’s investigation into Bishop’s alleged misuse of entitlements.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who had vowed to bring about a no confidence motion in the Speaker along with Clive Palmer, said the federal police should investigate whether Bishop has committed any criminal fraud. He said he was relieved by her resignation.
“Thank God for that. Watching this saga unfold was worse than getting your wisdom teeth out,” Wilkie said in a statement.
He wanted the review to stamp out the practice of MPs “tripping around Australia for all sorts of private reasons”.
