Randall had important talks in Cairns: PM

Tony Abbott has offered an excuse for Don Randall charging taxpayers more than $5000 for a trip to Cairns, saying he had "very important" talks with the then-opposition whip.

But the Prime Minister, Mr Randall and former whip Warren Entsch are all refusing to detail what was so urgent that the Perth-based MP had to fly to the other side of the country for a face-to-face meeting.

Speaking for the first time about the affair yesterday, Mr Abbott said he had been told Mr Randall had not flown to Cairns on November 18 last year simply to see an investment property.

"The gentleman in question tells me that he didn't do that," Mr Abbott said.

"That he went from Perth to Cairns to have some very important discussions with the whip."

Asked why Mr Randall had not simply used a telephone, the PM said: "Look, there are some discussions that are best done face to face."

Mr Entsch told The West Australian he met Mr Randall for two hours outside his Cairns office but did not divulge the topic of discussion or where the meeting was held.

"I spent a couple of hours with him when he came over here but the matters of discussion are between me and him," he said.

Asked why Mr Randall could not have discussed the matter on the phone, Mr Entsch said: "He was of the view that he needed to talk to me face to face."

He added it was Mr Randall's decision to fly to Cairns and not at his invitation.

Asked if Mr Randall was entitled to claim the $5000, Mr Entsch said: "He believes he was." Asked whether he thought Mr Randall was justified in claiming the $5000, he replied: "You need to ask him that question."

When The West Australian pointed out that Mr Randall was making no comment but had repaid the money, he said: "Well in that case, there's your answer, I guess."

Mr Randall was forced to pay back more than $5000 last week after it emerged he charged taxpayers to fly with a family member to Cairns where he had an investment property. The MP for the southern suburbs seat of Canning has refused to speak publicly since the story broke.

He has also refused to explain why he and a family member billed the Commonwealth to fly to Melbourne in September for a "sitting of Parliament" when Parliament has not sat in Melbourne since 1927.