Bishop should refund $5,000

Commenting on reports that Federal Speaker Bronwyn Bishop spent more than $5,000 on a charter flight from Melbourne to Geelong, Greens democracy spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon said:

"It would be appropriate for Ms Bishop to immediately pay back the $5,000 if she did bill the taxpayer for a charter flight in order to attend a political party fundraiser.

"Ms Bishop's charter flight is yet another political scandal involving entitlements and shows the urgent need for entitlements reform.

"I will be writing to the Auditor General to assess this use of entitlements by Ms Bishop but the government should take immediate action to tighten the rules around entitlements, particularly for Ministers and Presiding officers like the Speaker.