Fed: Greens call for inquiry into MP entitlements

AAP General News (Australia)
12-02-2001
Fed: Greens call for inquiry into MP entitlements

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA, Dec 2 AAP - The Australian Greens have called for an inquiry into MP entitlements
as Labor was forced to defend a senior frontbencher accused of using taxpayer money to
help fund a honeymoon trip to Vietnam.

Opposition communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner used his parliamentary study entitlement
to pay for a trip to Vietnam last July, costing taxpayers more than $5,000, newspaper
reports said today.

While only five days of the 10-day visit were spent at official functions, Mr Tanner
denied taxpayers had funded his honeymoon with new wife Andrea Ellery, saying he paid
for four travel days.

But Greens Senator Bob Brown said he had deep concerns about the trip, warning the
inclusion of personal with official travel was dangerous.

"Combining a holiday with a trip which is at state expense is fraught," he told the
Seven Network.

"I think we've got to be very clear about the division there, because it is public
money and it's a lot of public money, and I think the Remuneration Tribunal outcome is
not good enough on this, it should be clamped down on."

Senator Brown said there should be a Senate inquiry into MP entitlements and the operation
of the governing Remuneration Tribunal, which sets payments for parliamentarians

But Opposition Leader Simon Crean said Mr Tanner had acted properly and within government
guidelines for his Vietnam trip.

"It was approved both before and after. They're the prime minister's guidelines," he said.

He said he would discuss the matter further with Mr Tanner, but was satisfied with
his explanation.

"More importantly, the government's satisfied with it because they approved it," Mr Crean said.

The issue arose as federal MPs pushed for their entitlements to be broadened, with
the Remuneration Tribunal considering requests for overseas university study to be taxpayer-funded.

At the same time, the tribunal has rejected requests for business class airfares for
MPs' children.

The coalition is also under pressure with Regional Services Minister-designate Wilson
Tuckey and West Australian Senator Winston Crane under federal police investigation over
a frequent-flyer scheme.

Both have denied any wrongdoing, but Mr Tuckey was last week forced to postpone his
swearing in at Government House until the investigation is completed.

Workplace Relations Minister and government hardman Tony Abbott threw Mr Tanner an
unexpected lifeline, saying too much should not be read into the allegations surrounding
his trip.

"The Department of Finance and Administration keeps a pretty close eye over these sorts
of things and if there'd been any problems I think the department will sort them out,"

he told the Nine Network.

"It seems to me what's going on here is just the usual kind of disagreement over things
at the margins."

AAP rft/ph/br

KEYWORD: TANNER NIGHTLEAD

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