What the media don’t tell you. Bondi shooter Sajid Akram, came into this country under Howard, was given a gun licence under Abbott and his son was investigated by ASIO and cleared under Morrison. #bondibeach #bondiattack #auspol #BondiBeachTerrorAttack #Australia

It’s the quiet season for the media with regard to parliamentary & political business, so it becomes the Labor-bashing season because they’ve got nothing better to do & Uncle Rupert & Uncle Tony tell them to. Hence, the recent media pearl clutching re Anika Wells and her expenses. A media pile on led by every murky media entity available to draw rancid breath. Politician’s expenses have always been a bone of contention with the public - especially when Labor are in power. Politician’s expenses and the fact that they are often portrayed as a ‘misuse of taxpayer funds’ becomes a media spot fire for discontented masses who wonder why politicians get to treat the trough as their own expense account. In many cases they are legitimate expenses covered by the work MPs and the PM do in government and parliament itself. Key Principles of Parliamentary expense rules are: -‘Dominant Purpose: The primary reason for the expense must be to perform official duties, not personal benefit. -Value for Money: Parliamentarians must use public funds efficiently, seeking the best value. -Good Faith: Claims must be ethical, transparent, and not disguise personal matters as work-related. -Personal Responsibility: MPs are accountable for their use of resources, considering public perception’ It would be difficult in many cases to prove that Anika Wells was not performing official duties or was using the expenses for personal benefit during the performance of official duties. Especially when looking at the historical records of expenditure claims by past government MPs. Accountability and good faith go without saying for government MPs. This particular spot fire is the media blowing smoke up Labor’s ass and hoping that something will stick. There have been hundreds of interesting cases of dodgy coalition expense claims that have come to light over the years - and likely continue - but right now the coalition are keeping their heads down while they throw their stones at glass houses, because let’s face it - they are a shambolic shyte show and all they really have is “look over there at Labor” I won’t be forgetting the coalition’s many rorts and dodgy expense claims over the years, however - unlike the fair-weather shilling media. The questionable expenses and rorts are plentiful and easy to find. While the media poke at “Air bus Albo” we should remember that Morrison spent more than $3 million taxpayer dollars on international flights and accommodation in his first 15 months in office. That didn’t include his salary or the Hawaiian holiday amidst some of our worst bushfires on record. Let’s not forget that only this year - 5 Coalition senators billed taxpayers $10,000 to attend a RWNJ CPAC conference. Dutton regularly charged taxpayers for flights coinciding with fundraisers. Sussan Ley stood aside as a minister over pressure over a number of taxpayer-funded flights to the Gold Coast on “business” which included the purchase of a property. It doesn’t get more “personal use” than that. Then you have the Paul Fletcher $600 million car park rort, the Paul Fletcher $30 million land deal that was later valued at $3 million. The Bridget McKenzie sports rort saga. Angus and his $80 million water. Paladin. Don’t forget the Jacinta Price expense scandal for 14 different claims she had to repay. What about the $5000 Morrison and Frydenberg charged taxpayers to fly from Canberra to Sydney in a private jet for Lachlan Murdoch’s 2018 Christmas party? Remember Mathias Cormann and the Coalition government-funded RAAF flight around Europe at over $4300 per HOUR to help Cormann get the job at the OECD? There is plenty of speculation regarding the expenditure of politicians and while I agree that political expenditure should be reduced and not taken for granted - there are always two sides to the story that a biased media are not always willing to tell. If you think the coalition aren’t claiming interesting expenses right now, you would be wrong.