WA MP in expenses row
WA Liberal Don Randall believes he was entitled to charge taxpayers more than $5000 to fly him and a family member to Cairns where he bought an investment property.
Mr Randall has also stood by his purchase of books that appear to have nothing to do with his work as a Federal MP, saying they were gifts for schools in his electorate. Mr Randall, who is on the high-powered privileges committee which oversees MPs' behaviour, found himself at the centre of the latest pollies expenses scandal yesterday.
It was revealed that Mr Randall - a vocal critic of government waste - charged taxpayers to fly with a family member to Cairns on November 18.
A week later, he updated his register of parliamentary interests to record that he and his wife had taken possession of a rental property in the Queensland holiday destination.
After being inundated with questions from reporters, Mr Randall released a statement insisting his actions were within the rules. "In relation to the purchase of books, these were under entitlement and were purchased as gifts for community groups and schools in my electorate," he said.
"The claims relating to travel were appropriately acquitted with the Department of Finance."
Mr Randall offered no explanation for his travel to Cairns and the office of Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to respond to questions about it.
Mr Randall and the unnamed family member spent $2388.20 each on flights to Cairns. The MP claimed $283 in travel allowance and $200 in taxi fares.
In his parliamentary declaration lodged on November 26, Mr Randall said he and his wife had taken possession of a "4x2" home in Cairns and it would be rented as an investment.
Mr Randall spent $2500 on books including Broadway Musicals Show by Show and the Guinness World Records. He bought six copies of former prime minister John Howard's autobiography Lazarus Rising.
MPs are allowed to claim for newspapers and other publications as long as they relate to electorate or official business.
On September 15, Mr Randall and a family member charged the Commonwealth for flights to Melbourne for "sittings of Parliament" on a Saturday.
Mr Randall flew on to Canberra but the family member flew back to Perth.
No stranger to controversy, Mr Randall has previously made headlines for claiming mining companies were "pussy-whipped" by Julia Gillard and saying political turncoat Cheryl Kernot had the "morals of an alley cat on heat".
Senior Labor figure Chris Bowen said Mr Randall needed to explain himself.
"There are some claims that are very, very questionable," he said. "Parliament hasn't sat in Melbourne since 1927."
_The West Australian _revealed this month that WA Liberal Steve Irons was forced to repay almost $11,000 in airfares after spending an extended period of time in Melbourne - despite representing a Perth seat.
